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1977

The Pursuit of Virtue: A Study of Order in "La Nouvelle Heloise"

Jeanne Thomas Fuchs The Graduate Center, City University of New York

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University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road, Tyler’s Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR 77-32,029 FUCHS, Jeanne Thomas, 1937* THE PURSUIT OF VIRTUE: A STUDY OF ORDER IN LA NOUVELLE HELOISE.

City University of New York, Ph.D., 1977 Literature, Romance

University Microfilms InternationalAnn ,Arbor, Michigan 4S106

© COPYRIGHT BY JEANNE THOMAS FUCHS

1977 PLEASE NOTE:

Several pages have light and indistinct print. This is the original copy photo in the best way possible.

UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS INTERNATIONAL THE PURSUIT OP VIRTUE A STUDY OP ORDER IN LA NOUVELLE HELOISE fey JEANNE THOMAS PUCHS

A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in French in partial fulfillment of the reouirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of Hew York

1977 3

This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in French in satisfaction of the dissertation renuirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

[Signature]

a n date Gha irman of Examining Committee [Signature] fyh W 7 date ( iff ic e r

[Signature]

[Signature]

Supervisory Committee

The City University d'f New York FOR ROBERT MICHEL celui qui m*anime et m' 6claire 5

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing this dissertation has been an adventure that was at once arduous, stimulating and rather hypnotic. I am not sure that I have absorbed all that I have learned dur­ ing this experience, but I am certain about the guidance, support and encouragement that I received along the way. To Professor Madeleine Morris, who has been my mentor in this undertaking, I owe a debt that cannot be measured. My interest in Rousseau and his unique novel are due to her spirited presentation of them in her classes. A lady of im­ peccable taste and scholarship and a superior human being, Professor Morris has furnished me with an example of excel­ lence that I hope to be able to emulate. I am indebted to Professor J. Robert Loy for his stimu­ lating commentaries and his critical acumen which caused me to reshape many of my ideas and which I believe have added depth to this study. Professor Mary Ann Caws has been an unparalleled guide in matters of presentation and style. Her rigorous remarks combined with her contagious enthusiasm aided me in sharpen­ ing my often hazy concepts. Professor Henri Peyre has generously given many hours of his invaluable time to reading the manuscript and to offer­ ing a number of pertinent suggestions. His warm support of this project from the outset has been a source of inspira­ tion to me. All of the above professors have impressed me deeply— their prompt reading and return of the chapters to me furnished me with the momentum that I needed to expedite my work. I learned the meaning of "dialogue" from them. My thanks also go to Kay Guidone who typed the manu­ script, to Margaret Masche for her special assistance and to Lee and Kyle, my sons, for their sweet endurance. 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction...... 8 Chapter I Overture...... 27 Chapter II Exile...... 59 Chapter III Marriage...... 86 Chapter IV Temptation...... 119 Chapter V Renunciation...... 155 Chapter VI Death...... 174 Conclusion...... 208 Bibliography...... 217 LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS*

Chart Book One...... ,31 Graph Book Two...... 62 Chart Book Three...... 89 Chart Book Pour...... 121 Chart Book Five...... 157 Chart Book Six...... 177

*A11 charts illustrate the movement of the letters in each book Df the novel. 8 INTRODUCTION

Jean-Jacques Rousseau's immense epistolary novel, Julie ou la Nouvelle H£loise, was the best seller of the second half of the eighteenth century. Prom the time it appeared in January 1761 to 1800, there were seventy-two separate edi­ tions of the work.1. As Daniel Mornet points out in his criti­ cal edition of La Nouvelle H|lo5se, although the tendency at. mid-century was to write short novels, and even short stories, to replace the tomes written in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the public avidly read Rousseau's de- liberately long work. Louis-S£bastien Mercier recounts that Paris booksellers rented various parts of the novel for twelve sous per half hour.^ Given the length of each section, one can only conclude that the eighteenth century Parisians were pro­ digiously rapid readers. Stories about the novel's appeal multiplied almost as quickly as its editions: people stayed up all night reading it, forgetting dinner parties, balls, and any number of important engagements.^ One gentleman delayed reading the last letter from Wolmar to Saint-Preux for three days because he could not bear the "news" and the recapitu- lation of the heroine's death. Anyone who had ever been in love was devastated by Julie. The library at Neuch&tel has preserved sacks of letters written to Rousseau by readers con£ 6 vulsed with despair. Young girls, nuns, married women, bud­ ding Lotharios and men of the world all believed that Rousseau had intended his novel for them, and had recounted their in­ dividual struggles. In effect, Jean-Jacaues had uncovered a common bond which united shop girls and duchesses, merchants and marquis: the voluptuous delight of passion, despair and renunciation. Despite its unprecedented popular acclaim, La Nouvelle H6lolse did not receive a similar reception in literary cir­ cles. In particular, Rousseau's former closest associates, the philoso-ph.es. led by Voltaire, proved merciless in their 9

7 criticism.1 His "friends," especially Diderot, believed that Rousseau had deserted them by leaving Paris to live in the country, and they felt betrayed by many of the ideas ex­ pressed in the novel itself, and even more so by those in its author's Lettre a d'Alembert (1758). While their philo­ sophical and esthetic reservations about the work's merit must be taken seriously, evidence exists that they were jeal- Q ous of the hermit's success. Diderot published his Eloge de Richardson the same year; Grimm attacked Rousseau's novel in his Correspondence litt€raire. but most virulent of all were the letters of the Marquis Xim&ies, actually written by q Voltaire, lampooning the book's style, its author and char­ acters, with even a few gratuitous pot shots at Jean-Jacques' father.10 Even Grimm and Fr£ron condemned Voltaire's vitu­ perative remarks in the "Xim&nes" letters.11 Actually, in his attempts to crush Rousseau's creation, Voltaire-Xim^nes dis­ plays the same poor taste that he accuses Rousseau of having in La Nouvelle H^lolse. With regard to Julie and Saint-Preux he says, "Jamais catin ne pfr&cha plus, et jamais valet subomeur de filles ne fut plus philosophe." As for Wolmar, he calls him a drunk and adds, "II 6tait trSs content du 12 tonneau quoiau'un autre 1' eftt perc6." Voltaire, like most of the literary set, stubbornly refused to see any merit in La Nouvelle H^loise or its originality. Ironically, the novel remains one of the major literary landmarks in French letters. Just as, more than a century before, Corneille's Le Cid (also accompanied by a celebrated literary battle), had permanently changed the course of French theater, so La Nouvelle H^loise marks a watershed point for the novel. After 1761 the novel was accepted as a legiti­ mate and serious genre, a vehicle not only for transmitting a moral lesson, but also for communicating ideas. The castigo ridendo of Le Sage, Montesquieu and Marivaux disappears and is replaced by a grave and lyric tone. One quality Rousseau never possessed was nonchalance. Even the bitingly satirical 10 letters of Saint-Freux from Paris, which reveal Rousseau's admiration for Moli&re, Montesquieu, and especially Voltaire, are colored by the sober tone which pervades the lettres- dissertation in the work- In au article on Julie. Henri Coulet remarks: "Son roman est peut-Stre le roman le plus sdrieux, le plus dloignd du jeu littdraire, qui ait jamais 6t6 Icrit."1^ While Rousseau did not invent sentiments or melancholy or tragic love, his manner of describing them, their setting, his personal perspective, energy and eloquence metamorphosed an ordinary love story into a compelling work of art. As Coulet notes, "En reprenant une situation banale, Rousseau est done allfi beaucoup plus loin que ses prdddcesseurs et l'a tirde de la convention romanesque pour l'amener au niveau des grands exemples moraux sur lesquels ses lecteurs sont invitds §. mdditer.""^ Among its many accomplishments La Nouvelle Hgloise did rehabilitate feelings and their expression. At this period, expressions of true emotion did not abound and there was a general lack of spontaneity much like that des­ cribed by Saint-Freux in his letters from Paris. Mornet cites Bridard de la Garde as having remarked, "A Paris aujourd*hui on ne parle plus de tendresse qu*en 6pigramme." Sentiment had become "un sujet de conversation,"^ and if! feelings were repressed, nature was virtually unknown. For most people a stay in the country meant exile: they consider­ ed it a fate worse than death. And although the country was bad, the mountains were worse. Therefore, it is not an ex­ aggeration to say that Rousseau introduced nature into the novel and put the Alps on the map. For the eighteenth-cen­ tury reader the magnificent setting of La Nouvelle H^lolse. alternately savage and idyllic, was a revelation and enhanced the novel's "exotic" appeal. Nonetheless, the impression that nature and descriptions of it pervade the work is actu­ ally a false one; in fact, of the 163 letters which comprise the novel only six of them deal with nature per se. 11

As far as plot is concerned Rousseau broke completely with the adventure story and the realistic novel formulae of the period. There are no sub-plots (even the episode of Milord Edouard's loves in Italy is nothing more than a pre- Gidian composition en ablme. as it mirrors the conflict of the protagonists), no bandits, kidnappings, robberies or mur­ ders. Rousseau prided himself on having succeeded in sustain­ ing a long narrative "sans Episodes, sans aventure romanesque, sans m6chancet6 d'aucune esplce ni dans les personnages, ni dans les actions."1^ Restrictions of plot are accompanied by restraint in the number of characters, the latter a manifestation of the influ­ ence of classical tragedy on Rousseau: Julie and Saint-Preux have confidants in Claire and Milord Edouard, Wolmar completes the love triangle, and the baron d'Etange represents the ex­ terior obstacle to the lovers' happiness. The few remaining players, especially Mme d'Etange, who would fit perfectly into any of Balzac's stories, are weak, shadowy figures who fade into the d€cor. Only one letter is written to Mme d'Etange (from Saint-Preux) in the whole course of the novel, and she writes none herself. Even the baron sends and receives just one letter. In fact, the bulk of the correspondence is di­ vided among the two lovers and their confidants; Wolmar him­ self is limited to writing six and receiving four letters. These "lettres de deux amans" were indeed Rousseau's letters to the world, to borrow Emily Dickinson's phrase, but contrary to the plight of the New England poet, the world wrote back. At the height of his creative powers, in what proved to be the most fecund period of his career, Rousseau poured not just his heart into the letters, but also his head. While La Nouvelle H6loise celebrates feelings, it must also be admitted that it exalts reason. As a result, all of the main characters are intelligent. A singular achievement. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find in all of French literature a heroine who equals, much less surpasses, Julie's 12 intellectual power. xhe novel remains more than a love story, more than a cautionary tale; it represents the very essence of its creator's ideas. For, besides capturing the ecstasy of romantic love, Rousseau has indelibly recreated the passion for ideas which was so much a part of the cen­ tury to which he belonged. To the reader of the first and second prefaces to La Nouvelle Hgloise it becomes abundantly clear that a moral lesson is intended. And although it was common practice at the time for authors to attach moralizing avant-propos to their novels, which often were nothing more than empty self­ justifications that had little to do with the matter that followed, in Rousseau's case they do serve as a- kind of caveat lector. They also reveal his own inner conflict about La Nouvelle HSlolse.1^ The strategic opening sentence of the first preface lashes out with offensive precision and recalls the strik­ ing debuts of Rousseau's theoretical works. It also affords an excellent example of his ambivalent feelings tovwrd liter­ ature, and novels in particular: "II faut des spectacles dans les grandes villes, et des romans aux peuples corrompus."^® In spite of this eloquent protest, as every major Rousseau critic has noted, he was a bora novelist, "un romancier malgr6 lui." Pierre Burgelin goes as far as saying, "On a pu dire que toute son ceuvre Stait romanesque, qu* Emile 6tait le roman de 1' Education, comme le Discours but 1* in£galit6 le roman de 1'histoire ou le Contrat Social le roman de la soci^t^."1^ Be that as it may, technically speaking Rousseau wrote only one novel, and it can be demonstrated that the dichotomy present in the author parallels the one found in the novel: the conflict between duty, what one feels one should do (in this case writing useful works), and desire, what one wants to do (writing a novel), could not be plain­ er. Curiously, this work, condemned by its own creator, suc­ ceeded in lifting the entire genre out of its literary limbo 13 and elevating it to a place of worth, alongside poetry, trag- 20 edy, comedy and other accepted prose forms. A great deal has been written about the genesis, the in­ spiration and the sources of La Nouvelle H§loise, not to men­ tion Rousseau's intentions in composing it. The author him­ self, in the Confessions, in his correspondence and in the text of the novel provides us with invaluable information on these important questions. In turn, these matters have been closely scrutinized by scholars for more than two centuries and it would be redundant to recapitulate all of the opinions and 21 variations on their points here. In my view, the genesis, inspiration, sources and intentions are fused into one, re­ main absolutely inseparable, and are at the heart of Rousseau's own creative process. Saul Bellow once defined genius as "inner necessity," and although, in retrospect, it seems certain that La Nouvelle H6loise was written to expose its creator's ideas, and to im­ part a moral lesson, above and beyond these highly rational results, lies an undercurrent of urgency and intensity that one finds in works like the Pens6es and in Racine.^ Rousseau had to write Julie and the source of its creation sprung from his own "inner necessity." Ultimately, what sustains the work and gives it unity are the fervor and conviction with which it was composed. Without doubt, these highly personal and less tangible qualities account for its enormous success in the eighteenth century, and for its continued impact on the mod­ ern reader. To say that La Nouvelle H6loIse was a work-in-progress from the time that Jean-Jacques and his father stayed up all night reading L'AstrjSe would not be an exaggeration. More than any other literary endeavor of the period, La Nouvelle H6lo5.Be has the qualities of a novel in search of its author, and it remains a capital example of life imitating art. Act­ ually, the critic need not attempt to transform Rousseau's life into literature, Jean-Jacques has already accomplished 14 this himself in the Confessions, the Reveries. the Dialogues and pre-dating them all, La Nouvelle H^lolse which has some- —“ — — — 11 p "i times been classified as a "roman personnel." J Jean- Starobinski put it most aptly in the avant-propos to his masterfully study, Jean-Jacques Rousseau la transparence et I 1obstacle* "A tort ou a raison, Rousseau n' a pas consenti a s^parer sa pensSe et son individuality, ses theories et 24 son destin personnel." Abandoned, dejected, disappointed in both friendship and love, ill and feeling old at forty-four, Rousseau withdrew to Montmorency and within a short time had begun creating an imaginary world in which he was relatively safe, and over which he alone had control. In this manner, he "escaped" his hostile environment and also satisfied his creative impulses. He invented the perfect refuge, the one that fate had denied him, and peopled it with the "transparent" beings that for­ tune had not placed in his path. As Jean-Louis Lecercle re­ marks, "L*esprit romanesque, c'est le refus de la ryality telle qu' elle est et la volonty de lui substituer une ryality plus belle."2'* This does not imply that when Rousseau arrived at the Ermitage he had projected any grand design for a no­ vel. Once again "inner necessity" dictated not only the na­ ture of what he began writing but the form its expression would take. Recent feelings of guilt over the abandonment of his children caused him to decide to abstain from sexual 2 6 relations with Th^r^se and out of loneliness and frustra­ tion he began writing love letters to himself. Reny Pomeau recalls that the solitary wanderer in the forest of Montmorency recopied his letters onto beautifully ornate and scented sta­ tionery and carried them along on his walks to be savored at 27 leisure. In reference to this peculiar phenomenon Carol Blum comments! "Such a genesis made La Nouvelle Hyiolse very different from the usual epistolary fiction. Rousseau did not put his novel into epistolary form, but rather decided to put his epistles into novel form." 15

ValSry often commented on'the ridiculousness of sep­ arating form and content in a text; his notion that these divisions prove to be artificial holds very well in the case of La Nouvelle H f l o i s e . it is true that the epistolary form was in vogue in the eighteenth-century: Montesquieu had started an avalanche of romans par lettres with his Lettres persanes, and Richardson, in England, furthered the trend considerably. In addition, only a glance at the massive personal correspondences that have been preserved from the period offers an excellent demonstration of the importance of the letter both as a vehicle for intimate con­ fessions, and for the communication of ideas. Exchange and discourse remain the key words; in the letter, a combina­ tion of monologue and dialogue is possible which often proves to be more effective than a face to face conversa­ tion. The notion of premeditation, of a thought process which has resulted in a certain order of ideas, is implicit in a letter. In effect, the epistolary form provides a microcosmic variation of the process of writing itself...As a writer who professed contempt for the novel, this form afforded Rousseau the opportunity, as "editor," to dis­ associate himself from the work, and to interject his "ob­ jective" views whenever he chose. Aside from the above considerations, perhaps the single most important requisite of a letter, and the one which precedes all other in under­ lining the fusion between form and content in La Nouvelle Hfloise, is that it necessitates separation. The latter also irritates passionate love, and indeed, Rousseau's lovers personify the suffering caused by absence and separation. As such, they join a celebrated list of couples: Dante and Beatrice, Petrarca and Laura, and as the title clearly announces, Abdlard and Hdloise. The literary fame of Julie and Saint-Preux's ancestors cannot be ignored; the choice of the most prominent philosopher of the twelfth century, Abelard, and his brilliant pupil, Hfloise, as models for his 16 heroes colors the entire work. However, Abelard's name does not appear in the title, thereby enhancing the woman's name; this omission indicates where the author's sympathies lie 29 and foreshadows the tragic conclusion of the work. Thus after a life of general disorder, of wanderings, struggles, persecutions, real and imagined, at Montmorency Rousseau realized that he was neither happy nor fulfilled, and he longed for simplicity, honesty, innocence and above all peace. The phrase, "the pursuit of happiness," was coined in the eighteenth century and reveals a great deal about the general 6tat d' ame of those whose slogan it be­ came. As Robert Mauzi has noted in his colossal work, L'Id£e du bonheur dans la literature et la nens^e francaises au 18e sifecles "L*Id6e du bonheur appartient §. la fois a la reflexion, a 1*experience et au r§ve."^^ After having per­ used essays, treatises, reflections and memoirs written on happiness during the period, Mauzi remarked that with the exception of Mme du Chatelet's Reflexions sur le bonheur. they were all dry, hypocritical and marked by monotonous conformitTurning to imaginative writing to further pursue his study Mauzi concludes: La litt£rature romanesque— reste 1'une des meilleures sources pour la connaissance des ames, en nous r£veiant de quoi elles rSvaient, ce au* elles auraient voulu §tre, ce qui les gSnait dans les id£es recues, et avec quelle violence un peu morbide elles s'achamaient sur certaines: 1'id£e de vertu en sut quelque chose! Quand on connait Cleveland et La Nouvelle H|loise, il reste peu '§! dlcouvrir sur le si§cle. Et l'on s'est convaincu que Provost est 1'une des plus lucides parmi les consciences d'alors, la seule conscience tragique avec Rousseau, d'une ^poque ou les euphories artificielles savaient admirablement dormir ou masquer le malaise des ames.-^ The virtue to which Mauzi refers will be used by Rousseau in La Nouvelle H4loise as the touchstone fox the attainment of happiness. However, for the "Citoyen de GenSve" whose fav­ orite writer was Plutarch, "virtue" must be considered in its etymological sense of "manliness," "courage" and "force" as well as in its more generalized meanings of "goodness," 17

"moral excellence" and "rectitude." The characters in la Nouvelle H^loise discuss virtue from the beginning to the end of the book, and Gaston Hall rightly sees in their pre­ occupation with it "a measure of ventriloquism."^ Hall distinguishes two notions in Rousseau's concept of virtue: first of all, virtue is not primarily an intellectual con­ cept but a feeling, and secondly, Rousseau chooses to ac­ cent virtuous actions, thereby producing a certain ambiquity, a dual concept of virtue as both feeling and action.^ The link between virtue and happiness remains fundamental in Rousseau's philosophy; he was convinced of the inseparable nature of these two states. And while happiness cannot exist without virtue, virtue cannot exist without the sub­ ject of this study: order. To say that the people of the eighteenth century were obsessed with order would be an understatement; the mania for classification which characterizes this period can be attributed to the spirit of Newton which pervaded the en­ tire century. Montesquieu's L'Esprit des lois. Rameau's Traits de 1*harmonie. Diderot's Gargantuan undertaking in the Encyclopedic and even the geometric calculations that Voltaire and Mme du Chatelet spent their afternoons study­ ing, all attest to the enormous influence the English philo­ sopher and mathematician had upon the French. In this re­ gard, Rousseau was very much a man of his age; in fact, as Burgelin, at the end of his exhaustive and illuminating study, La Philosophie de 1' existence de Jean-Jacques Rousseau. concludes that the two major themes which constantly recur •515 in his writings are order and existence. As Burgelin ex­ plains it, a rapport exists between Jean-Jacques' notions of order and natural man: just as man in his present state represents a corrupted and denatured being compared to ori­ ginal man, so too, from an ontological point of view, dis- order is seen as a corruption of order. This original order has no connection with historical order, and conse- 18 quently, man*s nostalgia for happiness, for the age of inno­ cence, remains a longing for this initial state of order in which he was sufficient unto himself, the latter being his •>7 true source of unity. The desire so often found in Rousseau to go back to something simple or natural, can be interpreted as a manifestation of his deeper urge to go into himself and to strip away the denatured, corrupt veneer which has hidden his true self.^® Burgelin notes, "Rousseau prend parti contre l1 optimisme du silcle des lumilres; il ne croit pas h un progrls absolu."-^ He later elaborates on this idea when he says that for Rousseau "Le bien se d^finit done finalement par 1*ordre, et comme le d^sordre reste plus probable, le pessimisme pratique est justifi^."^ The pessimism to which Burgelin refers often re­ appears in La Nouvelle Hflolse. Despite the fact that the niche normally accorded Rousseau's novel is that of a work of reconstruction, its author's dark side and tragic conscience characterize the work. After having decimated man's "accomplishments" in the two Discours, and the Lettre & d'Alembert, Rousseau, seeking to re-establish order, recreates the world to measure up to his ideals in La Nouvelle H^loise, Emile and the Contrat Social. In the theoretical writings his effective and dramatic use of analogy becomes the most salient means of communicating his ideas; the notion of "example" emerges as one of the central ideas of Rousseau's philosophy. Similarly, in the novel, not only the protagonist, but all of the main char­ acters, become larger than life, archetypal figures be­ cause of their exemplary roles. The responsibility far the rehabilitation of society rests on the frail figure of a young woman; it is a great burden to place on her. And yet, the author's chosen instrument of re-creation— woman— seems logical and in tune with the natural order of things. Rousseau understood the crucial position of the woman in the family, and ultimately her effect on society as a whole. 19

In ha Nouvelle H^loise he has transposed the heroic ethic he admired so much in ancient models into a different re­ gister. Although he stresses the domestic and civic vir­ tues, rather than the martial, Rousseau can still remain faithful to the ideals of courage, patriotism, integrity, selflessness and liberty that he prizes. By placing these qualities in a domestic, bourgeois setting, he has substi­ tuted for military heroism what Gaston Hall calls "a new concept of virtue in domestic tranquillity and order."^1 Julie, in her multiple roles as friend, wife, mother and benefactress, incarnates this concept. As a work of rehabilitation La Nouvelle Hglolse raises many questions; the novel contains a number of seri­ ous contradictions and ambiguities which merit close ex­ amination. Because Julie dominates the action and be­ comes the focal point for all of the other characters, it is through a better understanding of her struggle and her conflicts that we will be able to unravel some of these inconsistencies. If Julie is meant to serve as an ex­ ample to young girls who have strayed from ttoe path of virtue, and to married women who are tempted by adultery, why must she die? Is it likely that this happy wife and mother would rush joyously to her death? Are the prin­ cipal conflicts in the novel resolved by her death? Do they require it? After all, death does seem a rather im­ practical solution to offer the wayward woman. Contrary to what Rousseau seems to want us to believe, virtue does not appear to be its own reward for Julie. Apparently, the "pays des chira&res" mentioned by the heroine in her letters (and referred to by Rousseau in the Confessions), has a double meaning which lies hidden in the etymological mean­ ing of the word "chimlres." While the word signifies a place of fantasy, of imagining, an unreal, other worldly spot, it equally evokes the chimaera, the fabulous monster of antiquity. And although there seems little doubt about 20 the application of the first meaning to La Nouvelle H£lose, given the helium intestinum of the heroine, and the denouement of the book, the second meaning also imposes itself. No matter how disguised they may be, sooner or later one's fantasies will spew out some of the fears and hidden agonies of the individual. In the same way, Julie's heaven on earth can conceal not only hell, but limbo too. The heroine's overwhelming need for order manifested from the very outset in her desire to control others and her surroundings belies an internal chaos and anxiety which constantly threaten to engulf her. The same dichotomy pre­ sent in Julie is reflected in varying degrees in the other characters. She suffers because of her inability to recon­ cile her exterior and her interior existence. In many in­ stances, order is abused and manipulated in a purely super­ ficial manner to hide the truth from others and even from herself. In effect, one can view La Nouvelle H^lolse as a symphonic composition in which the dynamics of contraction and release are represented by the tension whi:h results from the juxtaposition between order and disorder. A close study of the letters has revealed a tight struc­ tural order which parallels and mirrors the psychological fluctuations of Julie and the other characters. It is there­ fore the aim of this study to examine the affinities between the heroine's profound inner need for order in all tff its forms, and the deliberate structural order of the novel. The symmetry in La Nouvelle Hfiloise, as well as the symbolic images which dominate each of its six parts will also be analysed to show to what degree they reinforce the tension between the two poles of order and disorder. Seen from this perspective, the existential and the psychological richness of the novel is underscored, and it emerges as a work which has lost nothing of its relevance for us today. Keeping in mind the principle of order, and using it as a yardstick to calibrate Rousseau's profound intentions, it becomes quite 21 clear that there is nothing gratuitous in the work; no di­ gressions. The letters on suicide, economy, education, music, religion, philosophy and all the rest form the hase 42 of the work's essential unity. By analysing each book in chronological order I hope to demonstrate the novel's inner unity and the structural affinities between the parts and the whole. In this way, the role of order will be methodi­ cally revealed and its importance in the novel can be illus­ trated. La Nouvelle H^lolse represents a convergence of the ethical and the esthetic exigencies of the artist and des­ pite Rousseau's many pejorative statements, it is quite apparent that Julie depicts a part of his inner self that had not not been revealed in his prior works. Indeed Rousseau's intense feelings about his novel account in large part for his obsessive concern with its composition and with every aspect of its publication. Daniel Mornet, who was able to study all of the manuscripts, the profuse notes, correc­ tions and changes made by the author over a period of eleven or twelve years feels that they betray "des scrupules maladifs."^ He continues, "Quand on 6tudie certaines de ces corrections..., on doit songer que si Rousseau fut un grand artiste, il fut aussi un nerveux, et que 1*obsession et 1'indecision se retrouvent parfois dans sa tclche d'auteur comme dans les actes de sa v i e . " ^ In effect, Julie had be­ come Jean-Jacques* personal Galatea he desired not only that she be perfect, but that she also have a soul. This atti­ tude would certainly account for his obsessive work on the novel. Rousseau's meticulousness has proven not to have been in vain; his book has stood the test of time for many reasons, not the least of which is the dynamics of its composition. 22

NOTES

Daniel Momet, Les Grand a gcrivains de la Prance: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, ria Nouvelle H^Toise. Vol. 1 (ifearis: Hache 11 e, 1925)» p. 232. Mo me t notes: "Exception faite pour les contes de Voltaire, Gil Bias, certains romans de Provost, il n* est pas de roman contemporain de Rousseau qui ait vraisemblablement atteint le 10e de ce chiffre. 2lbid., p. 38.

■^Cited by Moraet, p. 237 4perhaps the most famous story of the novel* s power is the one recounted by Rousseau in the Confessions: "II parut au commencement du Carnaval. Le colporteur le porta ft Made la Princesse de Talmont un jour de bal de 1*Opera. Aprfts souper elle se fit habiller pour y aller, et en attendant l'heure elle se mit a lire le nouveau Roman. A minuit elle ordonna qu*on mit ses chevaux et continua de lire. On vint lui dire que ses chevaux fttoient mis; elle ne rftpondit rien. Ses gens voyant qu*elle s'oublioit vinrent 1*avertir qu*il fttoit deux heures. Rien ne presse encore, dit-elle, en lisant toujours. Quelque terns apr&s, sa montre 4tant arr§t£e, elle sonna pour savoir quelle heure il 6toit. On lui dit qu* il €toit quatre heures. Cela fttant, dit-elle, il est trop tard pour aller au bal, qu*on 8te mes chevaux. Elle se fit deshabiller et passa le reste de la nuit & lire." Oeuvres completes (Paris: Pl6iade, 1969), Vol., I, p. 547.

^Mornet, p. 249.

6Ibid., p. 248.

^Two rare exceptions were d'Alembert and Palissot, men­ tioned by Momet, p. 250. In addition the Chevalier de Jaucourt wrote in his article, Roman, in the Encyclopedic: "Les Romans... sont peut-fttre la demilre instruction qu* il reste a donner a une nation assez corrompue pour que toute autre loi soit inutile. Je voudrais qu*alors la composition de ces livres ne torab&t qu* & d'honnfttes gens sensibles,-’* dont le coeur se peignit leurs Merits, ft des auteurs qui ne fussent pas au-dessus des faiblesses de l'humanitft, qui ne d^montrassent pas tout d’un coup la vertu dans le ciel hors de la port£e des hommes; mais qui la leur fissent aimer en la peignant d*abord moins austftre, & qui ensuite du sein des passions, oft l'on peut succomber & s*en repentir, scussent les conduire insensibleraent a 1* amour du bon & du bien. C*est ce qu*a fait il. J.J. Rousseau dans sa Nouvelle H^loise." 23

Q Renl Pomeau, ed., La Nouvelle Hlloxse (Paris: Garnier I960), p. xxiv.

^Voltaire, Melanges. ed. J. van den Heuvel (Paris: Plliade, 1965)» p. 395. It seems that the Marquis has taken the manu­ script of La Guerre de 1741 from Les Dllices and this was the way in which Voltaire "pardoned" him.

^ I n the second letter from the "Marquis," Voltaire who usu­ ally refers to Saint-Preux as Jean-Jacques, explains, "Le baron fut assez malavisl et assez imprudent pour dire qu1on se i^oquait de lui, et que Jean-Jacques, quelque grand philosophe qu'il pftt Itre, et quoiqu'il eftt un pere excellent garqon horloger, qui avait portl un mois le mousquet, n' Itait point pourtant fait pour Ipouser la fille d'un baron." Melanges, p. 401. A close study of Voltaire's correspondence over this period reveals and irrational contempt for Rousseau in Which his novel enters for only a small part. Actually it was Rousseau's Lettre a d'Alembert that enraged Voltaire. The letter desired to establish a theater in Geneva, and was furi­ ous with its most famous citizen for opposing him. In a letter from Voltaire to d'Alembert dated March 19, 1761 he says: "O'est contre votre Je?an-Jacques que je suis le plus en colire. Cet archifou qui aurait pu Itre quelque chose, s'il s'ltait laissl conduire par vous, s'avise de faire bande a part, il Icrit contre les spectacles aprls avoir fait mauvaise comldie, il Icrit contre la Prance qui le nourrit, il trouve quatre ou cinq douves pourries du tonneau de Dioglne; il se met dedans pour aboyer, il abandonne ses amis, il m'Icrit I moy le plus impertinente lettre que jamais fanatique ait griffonnle, II me mande en propres mots, 'vous avez corrompu Genlve pour prix de l'azile qu'elle vous a donnl.' Comme si je me souciais d'adoucir les moeurs de Genlve, comme si j'avais besoin d'un azile, comme si j'en avais pris un dans cette ville de predicants sociniens, comme si j'avais quelque obligation a cette ville. Je n'ay point fait de rlponse a sa lettre, M. de Chimlne a rlpondu pour moy; et a Icrasl son miserable roman." Correspondence. ed. Besterraan (Geneva: Institut et Musle Voltaire, 1953)* Vol. 45, p. 216.

■^Momet, p. 239. 1 O Voltaire, Mllanges. p. 404.

■^Henri Coulet, "La Nouvelle Hllolse et la tradition romanesque frangaise. "a JJrT XXXVII (1966-68), p. 55.

14Ibid., p. 47.

^■^Mornet, p. 49.

■^Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Oeuvres complltes (Paris: Plliade, 1959), Vol. I, p. 546. 24

17 In the preface to Narclsse Rousseau shows a similar dis­ taste for his own work, and in this case the metaphor he uses to describe his feeling is quite revealing. Speaking of Narcisse and other early works he notes "Je d€daigne $ galement la louange et le bl&me qui peuvent leur Itre dfts; car je ne pense plus comme 1'Auteur dont ils sont I'ouvrage. Ce sont des enfans ill^gitimes que 1'on caresse encore avec plaisir en rougissant d'en §tre le p€re, a qui 1'on fait ses demiers adieux, et qu'on envoie chercher fortune, sans beaucoups1embarrasser de ce qu'ils deviendront.11 Oeuvres completes (Paris: Plliade, 1964), Vol. II, p. 963. T O Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Julie ou la Nouvelle H4lolse (Pariss Garnier, I960), p. 3. iq ^Pierre Burgelin, La Philosophie de 1* existence de Jean- Jacques Rousseau (Paris: PressesUnXversitairesde Prance, 1952), p. 5. 20 The central point of George May's, Le Dilemma du roman franca is.' au XV IIIe silcle (New Haven: Yale tfniV. Press, 1963;* is that 1762 marks the victory of the novel as a respectable literary genre in Prance. 21 Mornet and Burgelin discuss the many parallels that ex­ ist between the autobiographical works and the novel. See also the excellent introduction to La Nouvelle H^lolse in Oeuvres completes. Vol. II by Bernard' 'Guyo'n. op It is interesting to note that Racine, like Rousseau, suffered from a great inner conflict about his writing, abandoned it for ten years and returned with two "religious" plays. The turmoil and guilt which the two men shared would merit a separate study.

^Mornet, p. 285

^ Jean Starobinski, La Transparence et 1* obstacle (Paris: Gallimard, 1971), p.""U. ^Jean-Louis Lecercle, Rousseau et 1*art du roman (Paris: Armand Colin, 1969), p. 29.'

? f i Rousseau recounts this himself in the Confessions. O.C. Vol. I, pp. 594-595.

^Pomeau, p. xxiii. Rousseau also speaks of this in some detail in the Confessions. O.C., Vol. I, p. 192. 28 Carol Blum, "La Nouvelle Hgloise: An Act in the Life of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.*1 l^EBprit Cr^ateur (Pall 1969) p. 202. 2 9 ^The deeper psychological import of Rousseau's choice of Abelard and Heloise will be discussed at the conclusion of Chapter I. 25

30fiobert Mauzi, L1 Id€e du bonheur dans la literature et la jjens^e francaises au XVTTl^ silTcTe (Paris; Armaiid Colin.

^Ibid,, pp. 9-10.

32Ibid., p. 10.

33Gaston Hall, "The Concept of Virtue in La Nouvelle Hgloxse.11 Yale French Studies 28 (1961-62), p. 21.

34Ibid., pp. 24-25.

•^Burgelin, p. 570.

36Ibid., p. 212.

J,Ibid., p. 235. Burgelin suggests that Rousseau's profound interest in botany at the end of his life was due to the fact that plants had not changed and that they were just as God had made them originally* p. 422.

3^The whole concept expressed here is pure Plato. Starobinski points out that Rousseau often used examples from Plato and some of hid parables to illustrate his own theories. In particular, in the second Biscours the myth of the statue of Glaucus from the Republic is cited: "Semblable i, la statue de Glaucus que le temps, la mer et les orages avaient tellement d6figur6e, qu'elle ressemblait moins h un dieu qu*& une bSte fSroce, l'ame humaine alt£r6e au sein de la soci€t6 par mille causes sans cesse renaissantes, par 1*acquisition d'une multitude de connaissances et d'erreurs, par les changements arrives S. la constitution des corps, et par le choc continuel des passions, a, pour ainsi dire, chang6 d'apparence au point d'etre presque m^connaissable." La Transparence etc., pp. 27-28. Rousseau's view of mein as well as the origin of order and disorder can be drawn from this story.

3%urgelin, p. 216.

40Ibid., p. 344.

41Hall, p. 33. 4^Coulet says in the article quoted above, "Ce long roman est d'une composition simple et savante, renforcfie par des correspondences souvent subtiles et secretes, toujours profondes; les digressions n'y sont qu'apparentes, 1'Spanchement lyrique, 1*effusion spontanee entrent dans un cadre oft elles contribuent i, 1'unite de signification et de structure," p. 52. 26

^Mornet, p. 145.

44Ibid., p. 145. 27

CHAPTER I OVERTURE

The analogy of an overture has often been used to des­ cribe the opening section of Proust* A la Recherche cfti temps perdu; in it the narrator skillfully introduces all of the characters and themes that will occupy him in the succeeding volumes of his long novel. For identical rea­ sons, this same term characterizes part one o f Da Nouvelle Hfloise. In addition to establishing the pair 6f lovers and the theme of fatal love, Rousseau also crystallizes the friendships between Claire and Julie, and Milord Edouard and Saint-Preux, that will hold sway throughout the work; he accords Wolmar a mysterious mention, "mon pere a amen€ un Stranger respectable, son ancien ami, et qui lui a sauv€ autrefois la vie a la guerre," (I,xxii,50)^. He pre­ sents Julie's parents in finely drawn portraits, Claire's future husband, M. d'Orbe, appears in a small but signifi­ cant role, and Fanchon Regard and Claude Anet are players in an episode that will prove to be of prime importance. Beside the presentation of the dramatis personae, the ma­ jor themes and leitmotifs are exposed: love, death, separ­ ation, renunciation and virtue are most prominently treat­ ed, but education, music, the role of example, literary commentaries and direct and indirect criticism of the French all appear in the novel's d£but. This microcosmic quality in part one reflects the uni­ ty of the novel's entire structure. Rousseau's purposeful procession of players, ideas and events here remains all the more striking because of the chaotic verbal mantle in which he envelops them. Although moments of calm are de­ picted in part one, the theme of illicit love dominates and consequently disorder reigns. Directly indicative of the general confusion is the fact that part one comprises the largest number of missives: sixty-five letters and six notes. 28

Prom the purely mathmetical breakdown of letters which fol­ lows, a number of psychological conclusions can be drawn: from Saint-Preux to Julie 26 letters, 3 notes from Julie to Saint-Preux 22 letters, 3 notes from Julie to Claire 4 letters from Julie to Milord Edouard 2 letters from Julie to Panchon 1 letter from Claire to Julie 5 letters from Claire to Saint-Preux 1 letter from Claire to M. d'Orbe 1 letter from Milord Edouard to Julie 1 letter from M. d1 Orbe to Julie 1 letter from Panchon to Julie 1 letter Totals: Saint-Preux writes twenty-six letters and three notes, Julie twenty-nine letters and three notes, Claire writes seven let­ ters, Milord Edouard, M. d'Orbe and Panchon write one letter each. Because passion becomes the overriding force here, the bulk of the letters, fifty-five, are written by the lovers. How­ ever, Saint-Preux receives only one letter (XXVII a half page note from Claire) from a character other than Julie, whereas the heroine receives mail from Claire, Milord Edouard, M. d'Orbe and Panchon. This fact sets Saint-Preux apart from the others, and reinforces his isolation. He does not belong to their class. Edouard and Wolmar are the foreigners in the novel, but Saint-Preux is cast in the role of the Stranger. (None of the characters is Prench.) As a result of his alien­ ation Saint-Preux becomes the pawn of the other characters: Claire, Milord Edouard, M. d'Orbe and even Panchon exercise coiitrol over the hero in part one. Julie's power is abso­ lute, and the baron and Mme d'Etange, in the background, in­ fluence his fate. Hopelessly outnumbered from the outset, how can his desires ever prevail? Thus, the obstacles es­ tablished early on between Saint-Preux and Julie persist throughout the work. Of the last ten letters, Saint-Preux writes only two (LV & LX) to Julie, and she only one (LVII) to him. Claire, who stage-manages the lovers' separation writes four of them, and she, not the heroes, has the last word. The physical separation of the protagonists is paralleled in the actual 29

disposition of the letters; the barrier erected on sever­ al levels. On the emotional plane, Saint-Preux experiences the same mutilation that his famous forebear, Abelard, suffer­ ed physically. Rendered impotent because he lacks money and social standing, Saint-Preux becomes symbolically cas- p trated. To further enforce this image, after part one, with the exception of his experience in a brothel in Paris, no other sexual relationship is indicated. Constancy, one of the capital characteristics of true love, must prevail. While Saint-Preux's isolation enables him to preserve his love in a pure state, Julie's bonds to family, friends and society, her position in an established hierarchy, prevent her from accomplishing this. Her marriage will be viewed by Saint-Preux as a betrayal of their love and an infidel­ ity to her lover. Of lesser importance in part one are the single let­ ters which are written: M. d'Orbe plays a kind of messenger boy who keeps Julie informed of what has transpired in the episode of the duel between Edouard and Saint-Preux, while the inclusion of Fanchon, a servant, serves to illustrate the beneficial effects of sacrifice and virtuous actions; both incidents will be examined below. It should also be noted that the letters in part one, with only two exceptions, are all quite brief. The cele­ brated letter from the Valais and Julie* s tirade against duels require eight or nine pages. Although longer than the other letters, these do not approach the length of the lettres-dissertation found in later sections of the novel. Consequently, although a great number of letters is written, their general brevity serves to complement the frenetic pace and passions described. In addition to the importance of the number, length and disposition of the letters written, their movement must be considered. The correspondence possesses a certain rhythmic 30 quality which propels the action forward with what can be characterized as a wave-like motion. The latter parallels the crescendos of passion depicted. As an image to illustrate the rise and fall of emotions in La Nouvelle H^loise the wave seems particularly suitable; this motion represents the natural rhythm.6f Rousseau's thought which was cyclic and mercurial. The author often describes moments of supreme exaltation followed by depres­ sion in his other writings. Of particular interest in this regard is Book Two of the Confessions in which a many person­ al peripeteias are recorded, and the "Fifth Reverie" in which Rousseau substitutes his own inner waves of emotion for the more peaceful waves of the lake. In addition, the image of a wave is often used in the novel to denote emotions: Saint- Preux uses the image of an "onde agitSe" to describe Julie's conflict concerning the opinion others have of her and her opinion of herself (I,xxiv,58), and the heroine employs the same phrase to designate her soul's tormented state. (lV,xii, 482). The diagram that follows demonstrates the movement of the "waves"; it will be used to facilitate commentary on the let­ ters, as well as to illustrate the interior order of part one. First some comments on the diagram itself: while "A" and "E" appear on the same spatial plane, they are not meant to be equivalent. "A" represents status quo, a rather neutral state that does not necessarily include order, but instead, a lack of disorder. "E", order, can be qualified as 1. superficial or selfish order, 2. virtuous or unselfish order, 3. natural order, such as is presented in love of parents, 4. sensible order, such as the one so often supplied by Claire in her letters. "C" signifies the crescendo or summit of passion, and in all but two waves (III & V) proves to be negative. The crescendo should not always be equated with physical delight, but rather with intensity of emotions. Thus, pain, sex, physical violence, jealousy and ecstasy belong in this cate- C. Crescendo

4. Resignation D. R em o rse

3. D e sp a ir 2. Reproaches

2. Reproaches 3. D e sp a ir

B. D e s ire 4. Resignation

A . Status quo

1. S u p e rfic ia l 2. Virtuous 3. N a tu ra l 4. Sensible WAVES

I. (B)l-3, 5 notes (C )4 ,5 (D 2)6 (E 4 )7

II. (B2)8,9, 10; (B4)ll,1 2 ; (B1* 3)13 (C)14 (D 1) ^ ; (D2»4 )16, 17 (E 1) ^ in. (B3)19; (Bl)20; (B1*4)21,22 (C)23 (D2)24, 25; (D3) note, 26

IV. (B3)27; (B2* 3)28 (C)29, 31 (D1»2)29; (D3)32; (D1»2)33, 34; (D4)35 (E 3)30

V. (b !)36; (B2)37; (B1)38 (C)43 (E 2)39-43

VI. (A)44, 45 (B 1* 2)46 (C)47, 48 (D2)49, 50; (D 3)51

vn. (A)52 (B1^, 54 (C)55, 56 (D2)57; (D 3* 4 )58 (E 2* 4 )57

VIII. (A)59, 60, 61 (C )62,63 (EM 64, 65 32 gory. Both the ascent, "B," and the descent, "D," contain four distinct stages! in MB,H desire (l) acts as the prime mover; once this impulse is communicated it can cause a re­ action of reproach (2) which in turn leads to despair (3) and often to resignation (4). Not all of these stages are appar­ ent; the nature of the letter as a means of communication allows for the suppression of one or another step, so that occasionally only despair or resignation emerges. The same holds true for "D," although generally after the crescendo, remorse becomes the most prevalent reaction, and is often quickly followed by reproaches, self-righteousness or other similar defense mechanisms. In addition, not every wave contains all of the ele­ ments, A,B,B,E. In fact, only wave VII has them all. Once again because of the weighted role of passion in the first part, a wave rarely starts from "A1*; by the same token, they do not always resolve in "E". A cyclical motion can occur, 1 P making a jump from, for example, D to IBr possible. Again, the letter facilitates the suppression of one or more stages, and has an in mediae res quality which enhances the sustain­ ing of emotion. In wave I, "A" does not appear because the first three letters from Saint-Preux run the gamut of passionate emo­ tions from avowals of love and adoring epithets to accusa­ tions of cruelty and coldness; anger, despair and finally threats of fleeing Julie's presence "forever" characterize these letters. The Hacinian tone which permeates part one appears from the initial line of the opening letter, "II faut vous fuir, mademoiselle, je le sens bien." The vio­ lence of passionate love and the disequilibrium it foments are revealed in the use of antithesis throughout: "Tarissez, s'il se peut, la source du poison qui me nourrit et me tue. Je ne veux que gudrir ou mourir, et j'implore vos rigueurs comme un amant implorerait vos bontds," (I,i,7). Julie's silence for three letters becomes as dramatic as Ph&dre's 33 delayed entrance onstage? her three short notes and Saint- Preux* s two brief responses, which separate letters three and four, form a kind of stichomythia that introduces the first crescendo of emotion in letter four, Julie's declar­ ation of love. In note one, Julie tells Saint-Preux that he must stay; he answers, "II faut partir." Her second note accuses him of having pretended love for her, and he, cut to the quick by the word "feint11 threatens suicide. Julie's third reply flashes like a dagger, and her vacilla­ tion between "tu" and "vous" betray her inner turmoil: Insense; si mes jours te sont chers, crains d'attenter aux tiens. Je suis obs£dle, et ne puis ni vous parler ni vous 4crire jusau'a demain. Attendea." (I,3rd billet,12) The heroine wields the in .jure noble with the agility of a great tragedienne; the words "ingrat," "tyran," "barbare," "cruel" and "insense" pepper her letters and invariably re­ veal her anger over the hold passion has on her, and her in­ ability to dominate it.

Julie's first letter, like those of her tutor, is sprinkled with funereal forebodings which divulge her feel­ ings of fear and panic before her all-powerful love. She speaks of "ce fatal secret," calls him a "vil s^ducteur" while admitting, "Je vois, sans pouvoir m'arr§ter 1'horrible precipice ou je cours," (I,iv,12). She envisages her own downfall, and blames Saint-Preux for that which has not yet occurred. The trauma of her love-at-first-sight experience is evoked; "Dls le premier jour que j'eus le malheur de te voir, je sentis le poison qui corrompt mes sens et ma raison." (I,iv,13). The equations between "passion" and "poison," "virtue" and "health" become constants which run through the entire novel. To protect herself from her feel­ ings Julie uses other characters in the book as barriers. Paradoxically, the first person to be cast in this role is Saint-Preux; she informs him, "...pour me garantir de ma perte, tu dois 8tre mon unique d^fenseur contre toi," and 34

"Tes vertus sont le dernier refuge de mon innocence; mon honneur s'ose confier au tien, tu ne peux conserver l'un sans l'autre; arae g6n6reuse..," (I,iv,14). While these statements contain some measure of had faith, they also uncover the hero­ ine' s Cornelian view of amour-estime which becomes a recurring motif in I^a Nouvelle H£loise. And in the imitation of the hero phenomenon which so often occurs in Corneille's plays, the other characters, especially Saint-Preux, begin to mirror this same attitude toward love. Despite her agitated state, Julie maintains her lucid­ ity and resumes their dilemma at the conclusion of her letter, "Tu seras vertueux, ou m<5pris£; je serai respect^e ou gu€rie." (I,iv,14). The sentence presents a curious equation, the four adjectives hardly being equal: the choice ftor Saint- Preux between "vertueux" or "m^prisfe" is clear, the antithesis well-established, whereas an ambiquity exists between "respect^e" or "gu^rie." What does she mean? If Saint- Preux does not take advantage of her avowal of love, lie will be "vertueux" and she "respect^e"; on the other hand, if he chooses to profit from her vulnerable state he will be "m6pris£" and she "gudrie." It seems unlikely that Rousseau opposed the adjectives that apply to Saint-Preux and made those which modify Julie equivalent. Thus by possessing Julie, her lover will deliver her, cure her of her suffering. Here the etymological meaning of passion, suffering, imposes itself, and becomes reinforced further by the next and last sentence of the letter, "VoilS, 1'unique espoir qui me reste avant celui de mourir." Ironically "core" equals "death" here, and the last word, "mourir," cannot be taken lightly in this key letter. Rather it serves to intensify the pro­ found struggle between passion and death which marks the no­ vel' s long course. The first crescendo includes two letters, four and five, and the contrast between them underlines the varied reactions of the heroes to their own feelings. Where Julie sees herself as a helpless victim, Saint-Preux displays his willingness to 35 be swept away by the power of his emotions. His delirious state typifies a certain disponibilit£ in Saint-Preux's per­ sonality which Julie lacks. However, he also proves to be a perceptive analyst of Julie's state of mind when he asks, "Et pourquoi tes craintes iraient-elles plus loin que mes desires'" (l,v,16). In turn the heroine's verbal wanderings have taken their toll and the recipient of her next letter, Claire, becomes the target of reprimands for leaving her alone. Claire will be Julie's most effective obstacle against her passion in the novel. The heroine's phrase "Ce s t a toi de me rendre a moi- raerae" (I,vi,17) characterizes Claire's role till the end. Accordingly, Claire-Saint-Preux-Julie become the novel's first manage a trois. The death of the girls' former governess, La Chaillot, has kept Claire from her cousin's side; the latter chides her friend for mourning for what she considers to be an excessive period. The late Chaillot serves as a negative example of how a well-meaning but indiscreet person, charged with the educa­ tion of young people, can cause permanent damage. Julie re­ minds Claire: Mais conviens aussi que la bonne femme £tait peu prudente avec nous; qu'elle nous faisait sans n£cessit£ les confidences les plus indiscr&tes; qu*elle nous entretenait sans cesse des maximes de la galanterie, des aventures de sa jeunesse du manege des amants; et que pour nous garantir des jpilges des hommes, si elle ne nous apprenait pas a leur en tendre, elle nous instruisait au moins de mille choses que des jeunes filles se passeraient bien de savoir. (I,vi,17) Clearly the lessons of La Chaillot have already had a pro­ found effect on Julie's sensitive spirit, and her enumera­ tion of the governess' shortcomings thinly veils a call for help which Claire deciphers. Consequently, the resolution of the first wave of emotions in La Nouvelle Hlloise is embodied in Claire's answer to her cousin. Hers becomes the first cool voice in the work, and while she often describes herself as "folle" and "folatre," Claire personifies her name. She in- 36 invariably displays a calm good sense that none of the other characters possesses.^ Claire lightheartedly refers to her­ self as a "dulgne de 18 ans" and indeed, by the end of part one she plays exactly that role. The friendship between the cousins provides one of the rare examples of true female devotion, based on their virile counterparts in antiquity, that is found in French litera­ ture.^ They share a unique relationship which holds strong to the very end. Whenever Julie needs Claire she comes to her aid; just as in her first letter to Julie she assuages her fears long-distance, and tries to offer strength and sup­ port until her return, so too, throughout the work, Claire proves to be a constant source of solace and sustenance for the heroine. She reminds Julie in this first letter: "Si nous en /“about love7 savons trop pour notre age, au moins cette €tude n 1a rien coftt£ a nos moeurs. Crois, ma ch&re, qu'il y a bien des filles plus simples qui sont moins honnStes que nous: nous le sommes parce que nous voulons l'gtre; et, quoi qu1 on en puisse dire, c'est le moyen de l'etre plus sfirement" (I,vii,19). Here Claire seeks to weaken La Chaillot's injurious example by stressing the role of voli­ tion. Similarly, when she advises Julie against confiding in her mother because this would result in Saint-Preux's ex­ ile, and thereby remove Julie's opportunity to exercise her free will, she says: "Tu veux t'Ster le pouvoir de succomber, mais non pas 1'honneur de combattre" H,vii,19). Once again she stresses that Julie, and no one else, is the master of her own destiny. At the beginning of wave two, Saint-Preux finds himself back where he started from: two months have elapsed since his pupil declared her love for him, but in the interval she has avoided any t3te-a-t§te. However, her provocative pub­ lic behavior has been a source of anguish to him, and he real­ izes that he cannot continue in this manner. What the tutor fails to see is that Julie is suffering too; only her reactions 37 differ from-his. The brilliance of her eyes, the high color in her cheeks, the flightiness of which he complains, all indicate a state of near hysteria caused by Julie's avoidance of him. In fact, her puritanical view of physi­ cal love, and her fear of it, usually cause her to hide be­ hind a verbal screen of preachings which is seen for the first time in letter eleven. She confesses to Saint-Preux that even the purest love seems dishonorable to her and that "...mon imagination troubl^e confondait le crime avec I'aveu de la passion" (l,lx,24). 'Whence her hyper-agitated comportment in his presence. In Julie's mind, repose, peace and innocence always comprise happiness, while passion, carnal pleasure and most physical satisfactions evoke feel­ ings of sin and guilt in her, and cause unhappiness. The heroine adopts a Platonic attitude toward love in her ef­ forts to convince the object of her passion of the superiority of the spiritual over the physical: "Les charmes de 1'union des coeurs se joignent pour nous a ceux de 1'innocence: nulle crainte, nulle honte ne trouble notre f6licit€; au sein de vrais plaisirs de 1' amour, nous pouvons parler de la vertu sans rougir" (l,ix,25). One often suspects that Julie's sermons are aimed as much at persuading herself as her would- be lover. In the course of the same letter she cannot help but imagine a more intimate relationship between them, al­ though she quickly represses the thought, "non, quand un lien plus doux nous unirait £t jamais, je ne sais si 1'excls du bonheur n*en deviendrait pas bientdt la ruine. Le moment de la possession est une crise de 1'amour, et tout changement est dangereux au notre" (I,ix,25). In her desire that their relationship remain fixed, in a kind of suspended state, Julie hopes for the impossible. Despite her coolness, and her insistence on a pure and innocent love, a short separation from her tutor when she and Claire go to the country causes her unbearable chagrin. In fact, Julie utters the word "ennui" for the first time 38

(letter XIII) during this period. Irritated by his ab­ sence, she plans a surprise for him; the "surprise" an­ nounces the second emotional crescendo, the scene in the bosquet. There is a progression from the first crisis, a verbal avowal, and the second, a physical confrontation. Although Julie tries to protect herself by making sure that the "inseparable cousine" accompany her on this "sur­ prise attack," her plan backfires. It proves to have a graver effect on Julie than on its intended victim. As the stupefied Saint-preux describes it, "Mais que devins- je un moment aprls quand je sentis...la main me tremble... un doux fr&nissement...ta bouche de roses...la bouche de Julie...se poser, se presser sur la mienne, et mon corps serr€ dans tes bras" (I,xiv,38). Julie's physically ag­ gressive behavior, she presses her mouth to’his, she holds him in her arms, results in a violent physical reaction, "tout a coup je te vis p&lir, fermer tes beaux yeux, t'appuyer sur ta cousine, et tomber en d^faillance" (I, xiv,38). The immediate outcome of this ;scene, Julie's remorse, takes the form of punishment in her demand that Saint-Preux leave. Her vindictiveness toward him has overtones of a desire to humiliate him further, when she sends him money. He promptly returns it, but her will prevails, as usual, when she attaches a sermon-ultimatum to the sum. Thus the resolution of the second crescendo, the return to order, takes a completely superficial form. By exiling Saint-Preux, Julie hhs solved nothing, but rather side-stepped the issue completely. The third wave represents one of the few positive cres­ cendos in part one; the hero regards his separation from Julie as a kind of test of the strength of his love. After his initial dejection, .as he wanders through the idyllic countryside, he feels in tune with nature; his vulnerable state has heightened his appreciation of all that he sees; 39

the harmony and serenity of the mountains and its inhab­ itants effect a kind of transcendant feeling in him which brings, however fleetingly, a sense of being one with na­ ture. Saint-Preux's letter from the Valais, a masterpiece of lyrical writing, remains one of the most beautiful letters in the book. The knight errant tells his lady of "le calme que je sentais renaitre en moi" (I,xxiii,5l). His promenades on the lofty mountain peaks have had a de­ cidedly beneficent effect' on him: "Ce fut la que je d^milai sensiblement dans la puret£ de 1'air oft je me trouvais la veritable cause du changement de mon humeur, et du retour de cette paix int^rieure aue j'avais perdue depuis longtemps" (I,xxiii,51-52). Saint-Preux*s experi­ ence of oneness with nature, his loss of self in a state of pure ecstasy and qui6t bliss announce the Rousseau of the Reveries. The hero remarks: "Enfin le spectacle a je ne sais quoi de magique, de surnaturel, qui ravit l'exprit et les sens; on oublie tout, on s'oublie soi-mSme, on ne sait plus oft l'on est" (I,xxiii,53) ^ Saint-Preux's admiration of the mores of the people can be connected with the conflict in the novel: in the Valais, freedom and openness reign in the family circle and "la famille est 1*image de l'Etat." This situation contrasts with Julie's; her father is an absolute ruler. The departure of Saint-Preux (letter XVIII) is followed almost immedi­ ately by the return of Julie's father (letter XX). Thus, the menacing figure of the baron appears just before the Valais letter; impressed by his daughter's erudition, the baron d'Etange's curiosity is aroused about the tutorv/whom his wife has engaged in his absence. Julie's father's curiosity will grow into suspicions then open hostility and finally a total refusal of the tutor as a future son- in-law. In this way, the harmony depicted in the Valais serves to off-set the disruption and violence that will soon 40 occur in Julie's family. Her father’s ultimatum that the tutor be paid or leave represents an abrupt return to reali­ ty for the hero, as well as a crystallization of the social conflict in the work. The reply Saint-Preux sends to Julie offers an eloquent view of his priorities and sense of honor. Refusing to become "un espgce de valet," the philosopher points out the ambivalent nature of his pupil's concept of honor; Je distingue dans ce au* on appelle honneur celui qui se tire de 1'opinion publique, et celui qui derive de 1'estime de soi-mgme. Le premier consiste en vains pr£judges plus mobiles au'une onde agit€e; le second a sa base dans les v£rit£s gternelles de la morale. L'honneur du monde peut gtre avantageux a la fortune; mais il ne pgnetre point dans l'ame, et n'influe en rien sur le vrai bonheur. L' honneur veritable au contraire en forme 1' essence, parce nu'on ne trouve qu'en lui ce sentiment permanent de satisfaction intgrieure oui seule peut rendre heureux un £tre pensant. (I,xxiv,58) The distinction which Saint-Preux draws so finely for his student is precisely the one that she proves incapable of understanding or of applying to herself; Julie confuses public esteem with self-esteem so that her opinion of her­ self depends on others. To support his arguments Saint-Preux uses the example of Abglard and Hllolse; the mention of the medieval lovers Q at this crucial moment is significant. The eighteenth-cen­ tury Abllard dislikes his forebear; he believes that he abused his position of trust and therefore merited his pun­ ishment. On the other hand he has deep sympathy for Hglolse whom he considers to have suffered unjustly. After part one Saint-Preux will no longer be Julie's teacher, and his view of Abglard as a contemptible seducer aims at distinguishing himself from the twelfth-centry "villain." Just as the "nouvelle" in the title indicates an effort to depict a "contemporary" but also a different Hgloise, Saint-Preux must also be differentiated from his predecessor.^ Rousseau's philosopher deeply loves his bright student long 41 before their love is consummated and will continue to love her until the end. Julie's coquettish reproaches, and criticism of his style ("Ce style n'est pas de mon goftt.") vanish sudden­ ly in letter twenty-five and she confesses that his ab­ sence has become unbearable for her; in a pre-romantic passage, the love-sick heroine admits that every object and every place only serve to recall her absent friend, and thereby increase her pain. Similarly the harmony of the Valais fades and is replaced by Saint-Preux's des­ perate letter from the craggy precipices of Meillerie: the opposing pole of the former calm represents love's disorder and agony. While he imagines that Julie's days are spent in the accomplishment of useful and virtuous tasks, the heart-sick lover sinks ever deeper into a state of melancholy and despair from which he draws a certain voluptuous delight. The pathetic picture of the solitary Saint-Preux perched on his aerie frantically hoping to catch a glimpse of his beloved through his bor­ rowed telescope accentuates his hopeless separation from all he loves. Villon's "Je meurs de soif auprSs de la fontaine," describes Saint-Preux*s plight and romantic dilemma. Nevertheless, the victim remains lucid enough to profit from his ghastly situation when he pleads, in troubadour fashions "Ah! si tu pouvais rester toujours jeune et brillante comrae £. present, je ne demanderais au ciel aue de te savoir eternellement heureuse, te voir tous les ans de ma vie, une seule fois, et passer le reste de mes jours §. contempler de loin ton asile, a t'adorer parmi ces roches. Mais, h^las! vois la rapidity de cet astre qui jamais n'arrSte; il vole, et le temps fuit, 1*occasion s'6chappe; ta beaut4, ta beaut£ meme aura son terme; elle doit d4cliner et p4rir un jour comme une fleur qui tombe sans avoir 6t4 cueillie et moi cependant je g€mis, je souffre, ma jeunesse s'use dans les larmes. et se fl^trit dans la douleur ." (I,xxvi, 66-67)^ This impassioned carpe diem tirade, followed by his point­ ed suicide threat, take their toll on Julie's already weak- 42 ened resistance. As a result, in wave three there is no resolution of the despair which follows the climax; rather the hero's threat becomes the source of the fourth wave. The latter begins with Claire's note informing him of Julie's grave physical condition, her "filvre ardente." In this regard, the heroine presents a kind of classical example of psychosomatic illness: often when her deepest desires come into conflict with her super-ego image, she develops an ill­ ness. This pattern persists throughout the work, and finally results in her death. Julie survives this crisis but her despair during her convalescence turns to rage when she discovers that her father has promised her to Wolmar, "enfin, mon p&re m'a done vendue! il fait de sa fille une marchandise, une esclave!" (I,xxviii,68-69). Claire's absence, combined with Julie's anger and weakened physical condition, lead her to succumb to her passion for Saint-Preux, and just as two letters share the crescendo of the first wave, so too the results of the consummation of their love have a double perspective in the fourth wave. In her confusion, Julie blames Claire, "Tu m ’a abandonee, et j'ai plri," her mother, "Elle m'a trop aimle, elle m'a perdue," and Saint Preux, "6, ma cousine e'est la piti8 q u i me perdit," before she finally recognizes, "sans savoir ce que je faisais, je choisis ma propre infortune" (I,xxix,69-70). The use of the verb "choisir" is particular­ ly striking and serves to undermine all of Julie's prior in­ vocations against fate, destiny and fortune. Even in a mo­ ment of total desperation she can see, however momentarily, TT the true cause of her predicament. On the other hand, Saint-Preux envelops their recent intimacy in a sacred veil; he speaks of "les liens sacr8s" between them, and calls her "8 mon Spouse! 8. ms. digne et chaste compagne" (I,xxxi,74).. Nevertheless, even he feels a certin sadness, partly because of her remorse, and partly because he too tends to associate 43 pleasure with sin, " Ivre d'amour et de volupt£, le mien /coeu£7 nage dans la tristesse; je souffre et languis de douleur au sein de la fElicit'supr&me, et je me reproche comme un crime 1' excle de mon bonheur" (I,xxxi,73). After hating given herself to Saint-Preux, Julie, bathed in tears, evokes remorse in her lover. He says to her, "De quels remords je fus & 1' instant d£chir£! Mon bonheur devint mon supplice" (l,xxxi,74). Despite the empathy he feels for her, Saint-Preux*s view of their physical encounter tran­ scends guilt and unites them more than ever; he closes the letter on a note charged with Platonic overtones: "Je ne suis plus a moi, je l'avoue; mon dme ali£n£e est toute en toi. J*en suis plus propre a sentir tes peines, et plus digne de les partager. 0 JulieI ne te dlrobe pas a toi~m£me" (I,xxxi,75).12 Significantly, the letters which recount the loverB* reactions are separated by Claire's answer to her cousin. Claire neither blames nor bemoans Julie's actions but gent­ ly adopts a realistic and stoic attitude toward the hero­ ine' s "fall," she says: fChSre cousine, il faut g€mir, nous aimer, nous taire: et s'il se peut, effacer a force de vertus, une faute qu'on ne r^pare point avec des larmes" (I,xxx,73). Claire will not desert her friend, and indeed, reaffirms her pledge of eternal friendship. While the letters of remorse, jealousy and reproach (XXXII-XXXV) fol­ low Claire’s calming one, on the emotional plane they rep­ resent the descent from the crescendo of sexual passion here, and therefore cannot be considered as out of order. Claire's letter which offers a resolution in virtue of the lovers' transgression, while written before the events which occur in thirty-two through thirty-five, maintains a valid position at the end of the wave because her proposal repre­ sents an absolute solution to their dilemma. A convergence exists between waves three and five: as 44

frames for the crescendo of sexual union, they both under­ score the positive and benefic aspects of love. In the be­ ginning of five Julie, forgetting her recent remorse, pro­ jects a rendez-vous with her lover that will take place dur­ ing her parents' absence. However, their plans to meet se­ cretly at a chalet in the country are interrupted by a call to duty. In order to save the honor of her servant, Fanchon Regard, the lovers are forced to sacrifice their clandestine meeting, and in doing so experience a feeling of exaltation for having acted selflessly and in the name of virtue. The lesson here is clear, and thus no descent from this posi­ tive crest, in the form of reproaches and remorse, can occur, but rather a resolution of their feelings in order as the symbol of virtue itself. Conseauently, while letter forty-three denotes the crescendo of virtue, it also coin­ cides with the peaceful resolution of the wave so that uni­ ty is achieved for the first time. However briefly, uni­ ty, based on virtuous actions, reigns between the lovers and their environment. Thus true order cannot exist with­ out virtue. In the same way, letters thirty-nine through forty-two recount in an orderly manner what actually occur­ red, while letter forty-three describes the hero's wonder at the power of love and virtue. Saint-Preux attributes his elation to his mistress' magical powers; he speaks of her ability to "r£unir ainsi dans le mSme soin les charmes de l'amour et de la vertu" (I,xxxxiii,96). He marvels at her capacity to metamorphose privation into pleasure, calls her "ange du ciel," tells her that her reign is "celeste,” and vows eternal devotion in service to his idol. The raptures of the hero here set the stage for the mature Julie who will preside over the "heaven on earth" estate of Clarens. Thanks to the beneficial effects of wave five, six distinguishes itself as the first one to start from a status 45 quo position. The heroine is pleased with herself and her knight errant, thus letters forty-four and forty-five exude a euphoric sense of well-being while introducing Milord Edouard and Italian music. However, the cycle of desire begins again and Saint-Preux begs for a renewal of the chalet meeting, and calls his mistress, "ma jolie prScheuse." Significantly, Julie quotes Plato in her reply to her impa­ tient lover, and describes the moral differences between the sexes. It is hardly a love letter destined to inspire burn­ ing passion. The privation of intimacy weighs on Saint-Preux and he begins jealously to imagine a marriage between his beloved and the newly arrived English lord. Jealousy ap­ pears as one of the more disorderly and irrational aspects of passionate love, and the climax of emotion in wave six explodes in this most sterile of emotions. Just as Saint- Preux proved to be particularly susceptible to the beauty of the Valais, and to the beauty of virtuous actions, be­ cause of his love for Julie, so too his appreciation of Italian music symbolizes the pure intensity of his passion. Accordingly, the letter on the superiority of Italian music over its French counterpart is masterfully placed next to the philosopher* s outburst of jealousy. Music like passion has an immediacy that bypasses ordinary channels of communi­ cation; it speaks directly to the soul. The rocks of Meillerie interpreted Saint-Preux* s despair with the same eloquence as the music he listened to in Julie's presence: Mais auand, apr&s une suite d'airs agr^ables, on vint a ces grands morceaux d* expression qui savent exciter et peindre le d^sordre des passions violentes, je perdais a chaque instant 1* id€e de musique de chant, d*imitation; je croyais entendre la voix de la douleur. de 1*emportement, du d^sespoir; je croyais voir des meres 6plor5es, des amants trahis, des to-rans furieux; et, dans les agitations que j* 6tals force" d'^prouver, j'avais peine h. rester en place. (I,xlviii, 108) The correspondence between the hero's interior state and the sounds he hears could not be plainer; Saint-Preux's imagination 46 becomes excited by the music in the same way that it is agitated by his idol's presence. The union of two voices in a duet parallels for him their union. In fact, he wishes that they were singing the parts, and feels a cer­ tain abhorrence over being moved "et de voir sortir de la bouche d'un vil castrato les plus tendres expressions de 1'amour” (l,xlviii,109). The word "castrato" which the hero uses here is highly charged; it underscores his own impotence in the situation, his identification with the 1^ singer and it presages his figurative fate. J Clearly puzzled by her lover's jealousy and his pre­ occupations with music I "mon ami, tu crains de me perdre, et me paries de chansons'.), Julie blames him for her fall and avows her desire to maintain a pure relationship with him: "II ne s'agit pas d'Eteindre un amour qui doit durer autant que ma vie, mais de le rendre innocent ou de mourir coupable" (l,xlix,lll). Her determination presents her with, outside of marriage, an almost impossible task; Julie wrestles with this problem throughout the novel. The excess displayed in the hero's jealousy is paral­ leled by his excess in drinking that results in an ugly scene in which Julie feels completely humiliated. The de­ cadence from their former innocent state to this common situation profoundly affects her. As a result, Julie's reproachful letter to her lover abounds in Platonic def­ initions of "le veritable amour" which invariably involve a minimum of physical contact and a maximum of spiritual union.Thus, the wave of jealousy and physical excess does not resolve itself in order, but in a self-indulgent, whimpering, masochistic missive in which Saint-Preux re­ nounces wine forever; he wants to be punished, "amour, accable-moi du chEtiment dont je serai digne" (l,li,116). At the dEbut of the seventh wave a return to a status quo is marked by Julie's light-hearted mockery of her lover's maudlin, melodramatic letter. Despite the over-all levity 47 here, Julie makes a profound psychological observation which offers a key to the understanding of the course she will adopt later in the work, "L1 ivresse est-nelle nltjes- sairement attachle au goftt du vin, et la philosophie serait-elle asses vaine ou assez cruelle pour n'offrir d*autre moyen d'user modlrlment des choses qui plaisent que de s'en priver tout a, fait?" (I,lii,117-18). Ironic­ ally, Julie does not follow her own advice in regard to her lover; theirs becomes an all or nothing relationship despite her sound logic and good intentions. In spite of Julie's oft repeated declarations of the superiority of spiritual over physical union, she is the one who arranges their meetings. Each time she feels restrained she acts boldly and often rashly. Her planned rendez-vous with Saint-Preux for the evening of Panchon's wedding collapses because of a change in place for the cere­ mony. Peeling trapped, she devises an alternate, more dangerous plan. Julie* s erratic behavior reveals that she is subject to the same type of manic-depressive states as her lover. Obsessed by a feeling of helplessness she de­ clares: "Vil jouets d'une aveugle fortune, tristes victimes d'un moqueur espoir, toucherons-nous sans cesse au plaisir qui fuit, sans jamais 1'atteindre" (I,liii,119). The evocation of pleasure invariably produces feelings of guilt in her, and in this case, it unleashes a funereal fantasy. She proposes that Saint-Preux steal into her room and that they spend the night together there. Pully aware of the danger implicit in such an action she remarks: "Mais songe pourtant que cet instant est environnl des horreurs de la mort; que 1*abord est sujet a mille hasards, le si jour dangereux, la retraite d'un plril extreme; que nous sommes perdus si nous sommes dlcouverts, et qu*il faut que tout nous favorise pour pouvoir Iviter de 1*Stre" (l,liii,120). Actually, such a fool-hardy act, given the temperament of 48 the baron, becomes an act of suicide, for indeed, Julie seems to desire that they be discovered. She fantasizes a violent sexual murder, "Car, si nous sommes surpris, mon dessein est de me pr€cipiter dans tes bras, de t'enlacer fortement dans les miens, et de recevoir le coup mortel pour n'avoir plus a me s£parer de toi, plus heureuse a ma mort que je ne le fus de ma vie" ll,liii,121). The doom- eager, masochistic side of Julie's nature stands revealed in this highly charged image of physical penetration which will unite them forever in death. Perhaps the only truly ridiculous letter in the whole collection is the one Saint-Preux writes from Julie* s 15 room. y Even Rousseau* s genius could not rescue him from this untenable and invraisemblable situation. However, the transports of Saint-Preux after their second night of love provide an antidote for the former silly letter; it also signals the crescendo of wave seven. His delirium is so intense that Jean-Jacques himself feels constrained to in­ tervene with one of his "objective" observations. The lat- ter concerns the joys of the hour after sex. Amid this rapture the hero makes a curious confession, "II faut que je t'avoue un soupcon que j'ai conqu dans la honte et 1'hu­ miliation de moi-mSme, c*est que tu sais mieux aimer que moi" (I,lv,124)The negative results of their illicit liaison surface in the letter which shares the crest of this wave with the former one: Claire's description of the dispute between Edouard and Saint-Preux provides further proof of the destructive side of all excess. Because Edouard drank too much he and Saint-Preux fought over Julie, and now plan a duel to "resolve" the matter. Once again death enters the scene as a direct result of the recent disorder. The second longest letter in part one, written by Julie against dueling, resolves the sixth wave of this sec­ tion. This all-important letter actually occupies two posi­ 49

tions: it serves to reproach Saint-Preux for his anger, jealousy, and excessive behavior, thus its placement on the descent of the wave, and at the same time, it repre­ sents an attempt to impose order on a particularly ex­ plosive and disorderly occurrence. Julie succeeds. The heroine, as "raisonneuse" par excellence, composes a logi­ cal, intelligent and eloquent letter; worried about her lover's safety, she hopes to save him, and at the same time to expose the vanity and stupidity of a barbaric custom. Cleverly using Saint-Preux's own arguments about honor and self-esteem she asks, "Quoi! les vertus au'on a r4ellement p^rissent-elles sous les mensonges d'un calomniateur? Les injures d'un homme ivre prouvent-elles qu*on les m£rite, et I'honneur du sage serait-il a la merci du premier brutal qu'il peut rencontrer?" (I,lvii,128). The heroine questions what exactly is accomplished if one man kills another in order to prove that what he says is wrong, "Ainsi, vertu, vice, honneur, infamie, v6ritl, mensonge, tout peut tirer son Stre de l'£v4nement d'un combat" (I,lvii,129). Julie takes a ferociously independent stand when she tells her tutor, "Si vous aimez sinclrement la vertu, apprenez a la servir h. sa mode, et non a la mode des hommes" (I,lvii, 131). As intelligent and convincing as all of her argu­ ments may be, Julie keeps her trump card for the end of her letter, the coup de theatre which skips over intellect and goes straight to the hearts "Tu m'as honor^e quelquefois du tendre nom d' Spouse; peut-8tre en ce moment dois-je porter celui de m&re. Veux-tu me laisser veuve avant qu'un noeud sacr4 nous unisse!" (I,lvii,135). Needless to say Julie's intelligent use of rhetoric combined with her emo­ tionally charged plea triumph over the puerile mores of "civilized" men. She then addresses the twin of the above letters(LVIII) to the English peer; ironically Edouard re­ ceives the impassioned letter, while Saint-Preux is sent the 50 intellectual one. Julie's strategy works: the desperate confession of her intimate liaison with her tutor, along with the declaration that she will not survive her lover by a single day, "Vous aurez la gloire de mettre au tombeau d'un seul coup deux amants infortun6s," have a sobering effect on the compassionate Edouard. Emotional blackmail and threats of suicide invariably work in La Nouvelle H^lolse. The final crescendo in part one contains a number of peripeteias. The status quo which is achieved with M. d'Orbe's letter of reassurance to Julie, and Saint-Preux*s account of the courtly scene in which Milord Edouard kneels at the hero's feet and asks his forgiveness, is short-lived. These two letters combined with Julie's ecstatic note of thanks to Edouard seem to restore order, and bode well for the lovers. However, the calm proves to be fleeting when the imprudent Englishman, in his enthusiasm to see his new friends legitimately united, proposes to the volatile baron d'Etange that Julie and her tutor be allowed to marry. De­ spite Edouard's noble defense of Saint-Preux's merits as a human being, he fails in his efforts to convince Julie's father of her teacher's virtue and worth. Once again, Claire is charged with informing her cousin of the fiery conversation between Milord Edouard and the baron; fore­ seeing the gossip that the near-duel will cause, knowing that Saint-Preux was observed leaving Julie's home early in the morning, and fearing a complete public disclosure of their secret, Claire advises Julie to send her lover away. The baron's anger erupts with all its force, and re­ sults in a disorderly scene of accusations and physical violence. In the baron's eyes, the family becomes frag­ mented and threatened by a socially unacceptable alliance. In the m£l6e Julie, struck to the floor by her angry father, incurs injuries which result in a miscarriage. Although an 51 aristocrat, the baron’s behavior here resembles that of the lowest peasant. The significance of this event cannot be underestimated: in a real way the miscarriage removes Julie's only hope of swaying her parents, and on the emo­ tional plane, the loss is irreparable; it symbolizes the death of all hope in the lovers’ relationship. It is apparent that the baron considers Julie his prop­ erty, and from the bizarre reconciliation scene which fol­ lows, with its many incestuous overtones, one wonders at Julie's pre-Freudian insight in describing it as a "scene de nature!" Exhausted and beaten, the heroine entrusts her future to Claire who makes all the preparations for the removal of Saint-Preux. The final letter of part one has a classical finality about it; the opening, "Tout est fait," has a chilling permanency that is deadening. The hero, missing from the narrative for five letters, cannot see Julie to say good-bye and Claire deliberately lies to him when he questions her about Julie's possible pregnancy. Thus, the dazed, duped lover finds himself galloping into exile in the dead of night, sobbing and enfolded in the arms of his forever friend, Edouard. The final tableau of sepa­ ration, charged with romance and heartbreak, emerges dramat­ ically as one of the most affective moments in the work. Claire's self-control presents a fine juxtaposition with Saint-Preux's state of collapse, and the intense baroque movement which permeates the departure of the two friends. The order which has been forcibly reestablished, although temporarily affective, is totally superficial. Just as absence and separation have served to stimulate their love in the past, so too this rupture will strengthen the bond between the lovers. Beside the number, length, disposition and movement of the letters which characterize the psychological and struc­ tural composition of each part of La Nouvelle H^loise. each 52

section contains images which dominate it and which serve to distill the tone and reinforce the matter found within. In part one, the Valais represents the purity and har­ mony which love is capable of attaining, and its transcendence to an ideal state. On the other hand, the rocks of Meillerie personify the bleak struggle of the lovers- against what prove to be insurmountable obstacles. On a smaller scale, the bosquet symbolizes the vertigo and ecstasy which physical passion can cause; both Meillerie and the bosquet will re­ appear in later parts of the novel with their affective power greatly enhanced by the passage of time. In addition, an omni-presence of death can be uncovered in part one: threats of suicide, duels and grave illnesses all foreshadow the conclusion of this section, as well as the denouement of the larger work. Separation and absence can be considered as metaphors for death; Saint-Preux and Julie are not reunited in the deeper sense for the rest of the novel. Their young lovers' relationship is over. One final image remains, and has already been briefly alluded to several times in the above commentary: the arche­ typal love affair upon which the protagonists' is based— that of Abelard and H^lolse. The importance of the legend is capital and should not be underestimated; many parallels will be cited as they arise in suceeding sections of the novel. Several manifestations of the myth in part one have already been noted: the doomed lovers, the theme of separa­ tion, Saint-Preux's "castration" and the fact that the hero begins as his mistress' tutor. Aside from the many external similarities, and of greater import, are the unconscious impulsions which seem to have dictated the choice of the twelfth-centuyy lovers as models for Rousseau. The Abelard and H^loise motif enjoyed great popularity in eighteenth-century Prance and England, and we are certain that Rousseau read some of the literature that it generated, 53

T ft in addition to the letters of the ill-fated pair. As a teacher and philosopher Housseau undoubtedly felt some affinities with AbelardJ. but as has been observed, Saint- Preux sides with H^loise. At first this seems surprising, but a closer look uncovers the key to the hero's logic. While star-crossed love provides the major superficial theme here, the story ultimately portrays the specific 19 themes of victimization and impotence. ^ As symbolic fig­ ures themselves Julie and Saint-Preux both represent these two conditions. For Jean-Jacnues who felt victimized for most of his life, the unconscious attraction of the legend becomes clear. In addition, while the novel does expose its author's theoretical ideas, it neither states nor resolves them in the same aggressive and potent manner in which they appear in the Discours, the Lettre a d'Alembert and the Contrat Social. La Nouvelle H^loise depicts the other side of the coin, the helpless, impotent face of vic­ timization. Housseau sympathizes more with Hlloise and Julie because in actuality he identifies more with them. In his view they suffered more, and while both the lovers suffer and are victims, it is Julie who will be the sacri­ fice at the conclusion of the tragedy. Although the read­ er is led . to believe the opposite, Saint-Preux changes and adjusts more to his situation than Julie ever does. As in classical tragedy, the spectacle becomes all the more mov­ ing because Julie has been instrumental in her own down­ fall: Julie's "seduction" remains central here. In the eighteenth century Saint-Preux caused almost as much con- 20 sternation as Wolmar; even today he has been accused of 21 being a calculating seducer. To arrive at this conclusion indicates either a misreading or a misunderstanding of the work, or both. On every occasion when a physical confronta­ tion occurs between the lovers, it is engineered by Julie. She was the agressor in the bosquet, and she planned the 54 two meetings that we know of in which sex plays a part. Cast in the role of pawn, Saint-Preux begins as a weak figure, and becomes weaker, in regard to Julie, as the story progresses. Similarly, the heroine controls the action of the book, and when she lets the strings fall from her hands it ends. Because Julie did succumb to her carnal desires, she spends virtually the rest of the work avoiding a repetition of this "weakness;" she succeeds, but the price is a heavy one. Despite the many rich, voluptuous and luscious passages in part one, it remains permeated with impotence. Both Julie and Saint-Preux are victims of inequality, prejudice and ignorance. At the end of the first book they both are in the hands of others, not at all masters of their destiny. The theme of a love affair developing between a teacher 22 and a student also conceals a much broader notion: the step from intellectual to physical initiation reveals a desire to dominate and possess that which, in a figurative sense, one has created. This type of possession has auto­ erotic overtones. The fact that Housseau wrote a Narcisse and a Pygmalion, both different manifestations of the same theme, strengthens this notion. Rousseau was probably more 2 in love with Julie than any other woman who ever existed. Therefore, impotence, sexual, social, political or artistic, and its opposite, emerge as principal preoccupations of La Nouvelle H^loise.^ 55

FOOTNOTES

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Julie ou la Nouvelle H^loise, ed. Ren6 Pomeau (Paris: Garnier, l^SoT- p . 5. Because this is the only text of the novel from which I will auote, all future citations will appear directly after the quote. The first Roman numeral indicates the hook, the second, in low­ er case, the letter number and the Arabic number the page, p Saint-Preux refers to himself in several letters as impo­ tent: in letter xxvi he mentions "mon impuissance" and likens it to the "rochers st^riles" at Meillerie.

•i JWolmar represents one extreme just as Julie, Saint-Preux and Edouard represent another. While it is -true that the last three do achieve some kind of equilibrium in later sec­ tions much of it proves to be superficial.

^The two mothers in Paul et Virginie are one of the few ex­ amples one can recall.

^This attitude and the vocabulary used to describe it, "inventez, s'il se peut, des maux mieux proportionn^s a leur prix," underscore the courtly love influences present in La Nouvelle H^loise. The hero's name is yet another manifesta­ tionoi1 it"! It should be recalled that "Saint-Preux" is not the hero's real name but one given to him by the cousins. Its significance and evocative force of the "holy warrior" of the fiddle Ages merits underlining here. Bellenot also notes the influence of Petrarch, who continued the courtly love tradition, "Les contemporains de Rousseau ont d'abord subi le charme de son style et ils l'avouent. Mais les mots faqonnent a notre insu notre maniere d'aimer et la forme de notre amour. En £prouvant la n6cessit6 de revivifier‘:par la vigueur de son £criture les m^taphores de 1'amour p^traraui- sant et du langage mystique, Rousseau a peut-§tre: r<5veill£ plus qu*on ne le croit dans le coeur de ses contemporains les £lans d'une passion qui avait oubli€ son langage." "Les formes de 1‘amour dans La Nouvelle Hglolse et la significa­ tion symbolique des personnages de Julie et de Saint-Preux," AJJR, XXXIII (1953-1955), p. 155. £T Bellenot notes, "La montagne r^apparalt probablement pour la premiere fois depuis P^traraue comme 1'image symbolique des hauteurs magn^tiques ou puiser la liberty de 1'esprit." Ibid., p. 165.

^The conclusion of Bellenot on this point is that Rousseau discovers beyond the figurative language of courtly love, 56

the true aspiration which is hidden there: spiritual puri­ fication, Ibid., p. 165. Q Denis de Rougemont, in Love in the Western World places La Nouvelle Hlloise in the pattern of the Tristan and Isolde myth, although he misses most of the parallels between the two, but the Abelard and HSloIse story imposes itself as the source of most importance here. My differences with de Hougement will be discussed further on.

^R^gine Pernoud in a recent study, Hlloise et Ab£lard, notes that Abelard was indeed a seducer, "Entrd dans la demeure de Fulbert en cynique, en jouisseur, c'est en amoureux au'il en sort." (Paris: Albin Michel, 1970), p. 73. Only after his separation from her does his lust become love.

10It is not difficult to understand why lovers over the years have made pilgrimages to Meillerie, or why Shelley and Byron considered it a sacred place.

In Vol. 2 Chapter 4 of the Deuxieme sexe, Simone de Beauvoir treats the problem of1 sexual initiation noting that when it occurs outside of marriage the young woman who has been well brought up often feels extreme guilt and remorse. She feels herself to be weak: her fall a kind of character defect. This state is even worse if the man to whom she has given herself is from a lower class than she. IP Speaking of Saint-Preux's Platonic feelings here, Bellenot notes, "Le platonisme se fait ici 1'£cho imra^diat d'une sensi- bilite profonde, il s'identifie a une dialectique vitale et r^pond aux exigences v^ritables d'un sentiment paisible et purifi6." op. cit., p. 161.

^Beside the highly personal and emotional reactions of the hero in this instance, theoretically the whole question of illusion and reality in the arts was very much discussed at the time. Rousseau's own Lettre a d'Alembert and Diderot's Le Paradoxe sur le com^dien are two cases in point.

■^Both Bellenot and Pierre Burgelin speak about Rousseau's particular problems with and distaste for overt sexuality.

■^Henrietta's letter, Part V, xiv, to her mother takes sec­ ond place for foolishness. 1 fx La Nouvelle Hlloise. Gamier, p. 124. Rousseau warns women to examine “iHeir lovers closely as they draw away from them to determine if they are truly loved; he adds nostalgically and revealingly, "0 amour, si je regrette l'age ou 1'on te goftte ce n'est pas pour l'heure de la jouissance, c’est pour l'heure qui la suit," 57

1 7 'Rousseau's interruption and his use of the words "honte" and "humiliation" are thinly veiled confessions of sexual inadequacy. T ft For a thorough discussion of the texts and the popularity of this theme see David L. Anderson's article, "Abelard and Hgloise: eighteenth century motif." Studies on Voltaire and the 18th century, Vol. 84* 1971.

■^Anderson, p. 25. o 0 Voltaire noted sarcastically: "Le petit valet, philosophe suisse, d^bite a Julie son €coli!re la morale d'Epictlte, et lui parle d'amour. Julie en presence de sa cousine Claire, donne a son maltre un baiser tr&s * acre1 dont il se plait beaucoup, et le lendemain le maitre fait un enfant a l'^coliere. Melanges, p. 400. 21 Lester Crocker, "Julie ou la nouvelle duplicity," AJJR, XXXVI, (1963-1965), p. 106. 97 The literary tradition alone is long: from Paolo and Francesca, to Rousseau, the marquis de Sade and on up to Humbert Humbert in the twentieth century, the teacher who is the protagonist in Nabokov's Lolita.

2^In the Confessions, Rousseau says that almost everyone, thought that Julie really existed and wanted to see her portrait, "Tout le monde Stoit persuadS qu*on ne pouvoit exprimer si vivement des sentimens qu'on n'auroit point 4prouv€s, ni peindre ainsi les transports de 1* amour que d’appris son propre coeur. En cela l'on avoit raison et il est certain que j' 4crivis ce roman dans les plus brulantes extases; mais on se trompoit en pensant qu'il avoit fallu des objets r£els pour les produire; on Itoit loin de concevoir a quel point je puis m'enflammer pour des Stres imaginaires. Sans quelques reminiscences de jeunesse et Mad® d'Houtetot, les amours que ;j'ai sentis et decrits n'auroient £t€ qu'avec des Sylphides." O.C., Vol. I, p. 548.

2^Rousseau's possible and often alleged physical impotence has proven to be a question of considerable importance to critics, medical doctors and psychiatrists. We can never know for certain just what Rousseau's sexual capabilities were. It seems unlikely that all of the children Thdrlse bore were fathered by other men. Besides there seems to be some confusion here between "sterility," the physical in­ ability to reproduce, and "impotence," the inability to have or sustain an erection. The many studies of human sexuality since Freud have demonstrated that impotence is invariably linked to psychological and not physical difficulties. What is known of Rousseau's urinary problems can aid us in un- 58

covering any psychological damage that may have resulted from them. In his essay, La Maladie de Rousseau. Starobinski stresses that Rousseau used his physical problem to mask his psychological one. Starobinski feels that Jean-Jacciues never confronted his nervous disorders but rather doted on the physical ones. To ward off accusations of debauchery and syphilis the critic notes: "Rousseau se fait un alli6 de sa maladie. Le dementi qu*il oppose a ses ennemis va jusau' a un secret consentement a 1'impuissance et a 1'infirmity." In La Transparence et 1* obstacle, p. 441. Curiously, inTfousseau1s wi11 CoTc., Vo 1. I, pp. 1224- 1225), he requests that an autopsy be performed on him to determine the cause of his thirty year malady. The actual autopsy report indicates no abnormalities: "Nous n'avons pu trouver ni dans les reins, ni dans la vessie, les ureteres et l'urete, non plus que dans les organes et canaux sSminiflres, aucune partie, aucun point qui fftt maladif ou contre nature; le volume, la capacity, la consistance de toutes les parties internes du bas-ventre €taient parfaite- ment sains..." Cited by Starobinski, p.444. As the latter comments: "L’usage ou1 un homme a fait de sa maladie, aucune pilce anatomique ne peut nous 1*apprendre." Ibid., p. 444. It seems to me that an explanation can be offered for the above: Rousseau's retention of urine, his holding back, parallels his fears manifested in his desire for retreat. It represents the side of his personality that wanted con­ trol above all else: a kind of neurotic order. While on the other hand, he was often unable to control his urine at all. The other side of the coin: the uncontrolled "let­ ting go" which corresponds to the more passionate and ex- hibitionistic side of his nature. Thus the obstacle be­ comes retention and the "transparency" becomes incontinence. what we are certain of is Rousseau's artistic potency and this caused many women to offer themselves to him; the ladies doubtlessly thought that a correlation existed be­ tween his artistic and physical prowess. Rousseau himself notes in the Confessions with regard to the success of La Nouvelle H^lolse: "Les"senitmens furent partag^s chez Tes gens de lettres, mais dans le monde il n'y eut qu'un avis, et les femmes surtout s'enivr£rent et du Livre et de l1 auteur, au point q.u* il y en avoit peu, m£me dans les hauts rangs, dont je n'eusse fait la conquete si je 1'avois entrepris." O.C., Vol. I, p. 545. 59

CHAPTER II EXILE

"Criticism" is the word that best describes book two of La Nouvelle H|lolse. The four characters to whom the drama is reduced here, Julie, Claire, Saint-Preux and Edouard, all revel in their roles as critics. They spare no one, including one another, and the matter for their judgements proves to be quite unlimited. Behavior, beauty, happiness, virtue, morality, music, friendship, love, opulence and misery comprise only a partial list; a fair amount of reprimanding is also carried out: Julie upbraids her lover for his lack of self-control, his style of writ­ ing, and the company he keeps, Claire scolds her former tutor for his "ungrateful" and "unjust" treatment of her cousin, Milord Edouard ridicules the narrow-mindedness of the French and Swiss on social questions, arranged mar­ riages, and tyrannical fathers, but the accolades for brilliant, witty and penetrating critiques go to- Saint- Preux who dominates this part of the work. The tone of the second section differs from that of part one, and the transition to a new register is accom­ plished with great skill. As in book one, the number, dis­ position, and movement to the letters provide the key to the psychological drama. A considerable reduction in the number of letters, twenty-eight, as well as the number of correspondents, four, underscores the shift in mood. First of all, let us consider the breakdown of the correspondence: from Saint-Preux to Julie 11 letters plus 3 fragments from Julie to Saint Preux 8 letters from Julie to Claire 1 letter plus 1 note from Claire to Julie 1 letter from Saint-Preux to Claire 2 letters from Claire to Saint-Preux 1 letter from Julie to Milord Edouard 1 letter from Milord Edouard to Julie 2 letters from Milord Edouard to Claire 1 letter Totals: Saint-Preux writes thirteen letters, Julie ten, Claire two, and Edouard three. 60

Once again the correspondence remains dominated by the lovers. What they say to one another has changed. Although some passionate outbursts do occur, mainly from the hero, the over-all tone becomes cooler, calmer and more reasonable than that of book one. It should be noted that for the first time Saint-Preux writes to a character other than Julie, two letters are sent to Claire; however, as in part one, he still receives only one letter, from Claire. Actually, after letter nine the only voices heard are those of Julie and Saint-Preux; the hero's two letters to Claire (X & XXIII) receive no reply, and so in a sense remain suspended. Conse­ quently, book two can be divided into three separate group­ ings: the first twelve letters provide a smooth transition from the passionate movements of book one to the return to the status quo imposed by the lovers' separation. The sec­ ond group constitutes Saint-Preux's letters criticizing the French, and Julie's reactions to them, while the last group deals with the portrait the heroine sends to her lover, and the discovery of their letters. Exile, literal and figurative, serves to acdent Saint- Preux* s role as .etranger : he even complains to Julie: "Etranger, isol6, sans affaires, sans liasons, sans plaisirs et ne voulant m'en rapporter qu'a moi, le moyen de pouvoir prononcer?" (II,xvll,232). When the other characters write to one another the question of the hero's state of mind invariably figures as the most important topic of dis­ cussion: he remains their pawn. Because the lovers are safely separated Claire appears in only two letters, and as a result of their proximity, Claire and Julie exchange only two letters. On the other hand, Edouard's letters offer a different perspective of Saint-Preux's condition from the one found in the hero's own epistles, and at the same time they introduce a new critical note regarding customs, philosophy and morality. 61

Although the number of letters sent is reduced, their length is increased: separation encourages reflection, and after a short period of intense anguish, the seriousness of their situation has a sobering effect on the lovers which is reflected in their lengthy communiques. The longer letters also enable them to cling figuratively to one another, and thereby prolong their "contact" on a dif­ ferent plane. The disorder caused by their illicit passion in book one is replaced by the disorder caused by society, and by other passions: greed and ambition. All of the let­ ters criticizing the French manners, morals and arts only serve to enhance Saint-Preux's loss; the glaringly bad ex­ amples found in France prepare the inspirational view of a well-ordered society that will be presented in parts IV-VI. Without this highly critical section, the later, idyllic passages would lose their full impact. Paris dominates in book two and symbolizes all of civilized man's worst char­ acteristics; "la ville des lumiSres" personifies vice, hypocrisy, disorder and the temptation to succumb to them. Interestingly enough Saint-Preux does not arrive in Paris until letter thirteen, and yet, the impression one has of book two is that of a long tirade against the French and France. The relationship between the length of the letters and the shift in mood is paralleled by a change in their movement. A zig-zag motion can be observed which alter­ nates sharply between order and disorder; there is one cli­ max and one important peripeteia. The diagram on the fol­ lowing page illustrates this motion. The letters of crit­ icism are placed on the lower line, representing disorder, along with the letters of confusion and jealousy; on the other hand, the few letters of true calm appear on the up­ per line along with those in which a superficial order is imposed through an effort to control the behavior of an­ other character or through reproaches. D. C lim a x C. Reproaches B. Control A . C a lm ORDER

DISORDER A. Criticism . B. Confusion C. Jealousy D. Peripeteia 7 8 9 10 11 1213 141516 17 1819 2D 21 22 23 24 25 2S 2728

o\ ro

* 3 fragments

V 63

The first letter of part two continues the charged, romantic tone of the closing letter of the preceding book. Julie's lover, beside himself with grief and doubt, rants about his exile, his lost happiness and his lonely state: "Apr&s m'Stre 6gar6 par degr6s, je ne suis qu'un furieux dont le sens est ali6n6, un lache esclave sans force et sans courage, qui va traihant' dans 1'ignominie sa chalne et sons d€sespoir" (II,i,166).^ Saint-Preux finds him* self plunged into an abyss from which he sees no means of escape. Thus, Edouard's calm voice, in the second letter, provides a reassuring tone; he reports to Claire that the hero has latent strength of character and that "il est fait pour combattre et vaincre" (II,ii,169). The English lord's letter occupies a key positon at the d£but of this more reasonable section. He makes an analogy between reason and passion; he feels that wisdom is born only of the lat­ ter: "Car la sublime raison ne se soutient pas par la m§me vigueur de l'Ume qui fait les grandes passions, et l'on ne sert dignement la philosophie qu'avec le m&ne feu qu*on sent pour une maltresse" (II,ii,169). Thus, passion and reason do not appear as mutually exclusive in La Nouvelle Hjlolse, on the contrary, one cannot arrive at true wisdom " 2 without including both of them. Edouard believes that Julie and Saint-Preux were destined for one another by God, and that therefore, no earthly authority should control them. He speaks of "la vanity d'un plre barbare" and un­ derscores the hypocrisy of the baron's reasoning, "En criant qu'on troublerait ainsi 1'ordre de la soci£t€, ces tyrans le troublent eux-mSmes. Que le rang se rlgle par le m^rite, et 1' union des coeurs par leur choix, voila le veritable ordre social; ceux qui le rSglent par la naissance ou par les richesses sont les vrais perturbateurs de cet ordre; ce sont ceux-la qu'il faut dficrier ou punir" (II,ii, 170). Edouard proves to be a staunch and compassionate 64

defender of the rights of nature and the lovers; he com­ pares Claire's more favorable lot to Julie's; Claire's father has allowed his daughter great freedom in her choice of a husband, and she has chosen a worthy man. Nonetheless, it should be noted that Claire's marriage is not a union of passion but one of reason which fore­ shadows Julie's choice in part three. Julie and Saint- Preux (like Claire, Edouard and later Wolmar) are depict­ ed as unique, and Edouard accents this in his letter to his female counterpart.-^ The novel plunges back into the doldrums with the three fragments of letters included in the above; the hero, here as in Meillerie, paves the way for a century of young men in extremis as the result of their passion. In the same vein, Edouard's next letter, addressed to the heroine, reveals that he too, has experienced what Saint- Preux is now suffering, "C'est le chemin des passions qui m'a conduit a la philosophie" (ll,iii,173)• Obviously, Milord Edouard's ability to master his passions bodes well for a similar conquest by the hero. Edouard express­ es the ancient notion, which was quite current in the eighteenth century, of love as a sickness; he uses a met­ aphor drawn from the technical vocabulaiyof engraver's to characterize the heroine's fatal loves "L'amour s'est insinuS trop avant dans la substance de votre £tme pour que vous puissiez jamais 1'en chasser; il en renforce et p4nltre tous les traits comme une eau-forte et corrosive, vous n'en effacerez jamais la profonde impression sans effacer a la fois tous les sentiments exquis que vous regutes de la nature; et, quand il ne vous restera plus d’amour, il ne vous restera plus rien d'estimable." (II, iii,174). The English peer's words prove to be prophetic; Julie's entire being has been marked by the "eau-forte et corrosive" and although she does succeed in covering the 65 scars temporarily, she will never he able to erase them. The offer of asylum in England for the two lovers prof­ fered by Edouard presents the heroine with a heart-rend­ ing dilemma. His generosity provides her with the oppor­ tunity to "legitimize" their love. Edouard, like Claire, stresses the role of free will and of self-determination when he says to Julie: "Votre sort est en vos mains" (II, iii,175). What becomes rather distressing here is the fact that Saint-Preux has not been consulted or even been told about his friend's idea: Edouard deliberately keeps any knowledge of the offer from him, and Julie makes her decision without ever contacting her lover; she answers Edouard, and only then writes her first letter (VII) to Saint-Preux since their separation. Housseau intervenes here and accosts the reader directly, "Lecteur qu' en dites vous?" (note p. 176), The interruption serves to under­ line the importance of the decision that Julie faces. In­ variably when the author intervenes it is to call the read­ er' s attention to a particular point. The heroine's re­ sponse is predictable, but she does struggle and is thrown into a state of panic by this offer of "freedom."^ In her confusion Julie tries to force Claire to choose for her: "Apprends-moi done ce que je veux, et choisis & ma place, quand je n'ai plus la force de vouloir ni la raison de choisir" (ll,iv,177). Obviously, no real choice exists.'5 Julie cannot find happiness at her parents' ex­ pense. As unreasonable as her father is, it would be un­ natural for her to run away from home. Her rhetorical ques­ tion to Claire sheds light on her deepest feelings: "Celle qui d$shonore sa famille apprendra-t-elle a ses enfants §. l'honorer?" (II,iv,178). The question of example weighs heavily on Julie throughout the novel. Realizing that she cannot resolve her conflict by flight nor by a dishonorable act, the heroine finds herself in a checkmate position. 66

Claire's response is, intelligently, a non-answer; her good sense prevents her from making any recommendation, although she does stress the "natural" conflict of both sides: "Mais ici, quelque parti que tu prennes, la nature 1'autorise et le condamne, la raison le blame et l'approuve, le devoir se tait ou s'oppose a lui-meme" (II,v,178). Claire prudent­ ly tells Julie to follow her own "penchant;" she reassures her cousin, once again, by vowing to support her and to fol­ low her into exile if she should choose that course.^ Julie interprets Claire's letter as she desires and sends her friend a note of thanks. Accordingly, letter six becomes the climax of book two; it represents Julie's decision to remain with her parents. Her refusal to Edouard is accom­ panied by a rather ungracious reprimand: "Mais, milord, vous n'Stes pas marid: ne sentez-vous point qu'il faut §tre p&re pour avoir droit de conseiller les enfants d'autrui?" (II, vi,l85). In the same vein, Julie's first letter to her lover has a similar condescending tone; she reproaches him for his "lettre eff6min£e," tells him to think of her dishonor and her shame, and admonishes him to be a man. During the course of her tirade the heroine does damn "la tyrannie des biens^ances" which forces young women to pretend that they are not affected by passion, to appear happy when they are miserable, to seem serene when they are agitated, in short, to disguise their own inner feelings. It is apparent from these remarks that Julie too is suffering, butithat the so­ cial restraints upon her do not allow her to show her dis­ tress. Claire continues her cousin's reprimanding tone by scolding Saint-Preux for his lack of self-mastery, thus let­ ters six, seven and eight form a triptych in which Julie and Claire try to control Saint-Preux by reproaching him; in this way the girls hope to maintain the artificial status quo of calm. Even Edouard betrays his desire to manipulate the 67 hero when he reports to Julie that Saint-Preux1s shame has made him "si docile que nous en ferons d^sormais tout ce qu'il nous plaira" (II,ix,191). The will to dominate manifests itself as a characteristic tic of Rousseau's play- 7 ers;' the only one who seems to prefer submission is Saint- Preux (and Mme d'Etange). In this regard, the others have such a fine command of rhetoric that they finish by con­ vincing the hero of his "faults" and so his letter of thanks to Claire exposes a sad and belittled protagonist who asks her to be his "juge," his "intercesseur;" Saint-Preux places Claire in the same position of power that Julie does when he says, "daignez me rappeler a moi-mSme" (II,x,196). In letter eleven, Julie examines the concommitants of happiness, and paradoxically informs her lover: "II faut nous s^parer si nous voulons nous revoir heureux un jour" (ll,xi,198). Julie unconsciously seeks to preserve her passion by remaining apart from its object. Reminding her lover that "un m€chant heureux ne fait envie a personne," she lists a number of famous suicides: Socrates, Brutus, Regulus and Cato, and she adds, "C'6taient tous ces vertueux infortun^s qui te faisaient envie" (II,xi,200). Curiously, Julie presages her own fate here, the celebrated examples of suicide, the "vertueux infortunfis" are invoked to in­ spire Saint-Preux to sacrifice, but inevitably Julie is addressing herself too. When she says, "Nul ne peut §tre heureux s'il ne jouit de sa propre estime," she specifies, very early on, her ultimate dilemma, and its resolution in book six. At the conclusion of her letter Julie vows never to marry without the consent of both her father and her lover. At the same time she demands that he always be faithful to their love. The oath that Julie takes is a cruel one; she knows that her father will never consent to a marriage with a "roturier." In this contrary way, she reaffirms that Saint-Preux cannot have her, while refusing 68

to give him up. Thus the bitter-sweet paradoxes of the lover* s predicament continue to multiply even though they are apart. Letters eleven, twelve and thirteen form a triptych in praise of virtue: exhilarated by his mistress's love of virtue, and her eloquence in its behalf, Saint-Preux pur­ chases a notebook in which hei pro pose sf to Te copy and memoriae Julie's letters. He admits that the collection "sera pour moi le contre-poison des maximes qu'on y respire; il le recueil me consolera dans mes maux; il prlviendra ou corrigera mes fautes; il ra'instruira durant ma jeunesse; il m' £difera dans tous les temps, et ce seront, a mon avis, les premieres lettres d'amour dont on aura tir€ cet usage" (II,xiii,205). Clearly "love" letters can be useful, can convey a moral. This composition en ablme technique recurs throughtout La Nouvelle H^loise^ and it reinforces the dogmatic nature of the material. This letter skillfully inaugurates the re­ counting of the scenes of disorder witnessed by the hero in Paris. Briefly, letters fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, nine­ teen, twenty-one and twenty-three comprise those in which Saint-Preux criticizes life in the capital; Julie's reactions to them, the announcement of Claire's impending marriage, and the wedding ceremony are recounted respectively in let­ ters fifteen and eighteen."^ The d6but of Saint-Preux's letter on Parisian manners has an Alcestian ring: "J1 entre avec une secrete horreur dans ce vaste desert du monde. Ce chaos ne m' offre qu'une solitude affreuse oft r&gne un raorne silence" (II,xiv,207) The alienated dimension of the hero's personality is stressed when he avows: "Je n*entends point la langue du pays, et personne ici n'entend la mienne" (II, xiv,207).** The contrast between the ebullient welcome that he receives, and the emptiness that he feels, stands out par­ ticularly. The hero's razor-sharp perceptiveness cuts through 69 the "fausses demonstrations de la politesse" and the "dehors trompeurs que 1'usage . du monde exige" (II,xiv, 207). Saint-Preux is troubled by the familiarity display­ ed in society on first introductions, and comments ironic­ ally; "J’ai grand'peur que celui qui, dls la prerailre vue, me traite comme un ami de vingt ans, ne me trait&t, au bout de vingt ans, comme un inconnu" (II,xiv,207). The former brand of "courtesy" unnerves Saint-Preux, and con­ trasts with the simple, rustic openness to which he is accustomed. In addition, conversation in this milieu has very little to do with the expression of true feelings. It strikes the hero as a series of ornate lies which con­ ceals rather than communicates; the hypocrisy and lying which appear to constitute a way of life in Paris appall 12 the Swiss philosopher. The elitism and the snobbism of the various cabals which make up Parisian society reveal an underlying rigid conformity, "tous ces gens-lS. s'en vont,chaque soir, apprendre dans leurs soci6t£s ce qu'ils penseront le lendemain" (II,xiv,210). Because the motiv­ ation of each individual lies in self-interest it is often important to frequent more than one of the coteries. In this case, one must be flexible because "le bon, le mauvais, le beau, le laid, la v6rit6, la vertu n'ont qu'une existence locale et circonscrite" (II,xiv,210). There is only one way for the man who lives in such a society to survive: "il faut qu'a chaque visite il quitte en entrant son arae, s'il en a une" (II,xiv,210). The hero refuses to do this; he be­ gins to realize that the social mores to which he objects pertain to the only group that he has closely observed: the rich, Saint-Preux concludes that the rich are the same everywhere and that in order to really learn the customs of any people one must frequent other classes. Although he arrives at this notion with little difficulty, he seems loath to pursue it. 70

Predictably, Julie's response acts as an antidote to her former tutor's "poisoned" soul; she emphasizes the union of their hearts, and the tranquil state that results when the heart speaks and the senses are afforded a respite. The heroine is placed in a very favorable light by her refusal to condemn the French. She reminds Saint-Preux (just as Voltaire reminded Jean-Jacques) that he is a guest in France and should not be ungracious; she calls his style preten­ tious and full of "jargon" that requires a dictionary to de­ cipher. Actually Julie's immobility and her criticism of Saint-Preux betray feelings of jealousy: she rather boldly warns him against solitary sexual pleasure, "un goftt d£pra- v6 qui outrage la nature," and then she ends by telling him about Claire's coming marriage. The happiness and excite­ ment of the chaste couple offers a vivid contrast to the heroine's own situation, and undoubtedly cause her pain. The observer-reporter in Saint-Preux is hurt by his mis­ tress' s reproving view of his work, and he gently reminds her that he is not the author of his present predicament: "Si j'€tais le maitre de mes occupations et de mon sort, je saurais, n'en doute pas, choisir d'autres sujets de lettres" (II,xvi,220). His defense of the descriptions he has record­ ed to share with Julie becomes quite spirited. However, his letters from the capital depict an increasingly hectic pace; the chaos and constant motion give a decidedly Pascalian tone to the missives. Both the vocabulary and the subjects evoke the author of the Pens6es: Saint-Preux has thrown him­ self into the torrent and feels like one of the "nouveaux d6barqu£s," but at the same time he realizes that "un homrae qui voudrait diviser son temps par intervalles entre le monde et la solitude, toujours agitS dans sa retraite et toujours Itranger dans le monde, ne serait bien nulle part. II n'y aurait d'autre moyen que de partager sa vie entiere en deux grandes espaces: l'un pour voir, 1'autre pour r6fl€chir" 71

(II,xvii,222)As the hero points out, he finds himself in a powerless position in Prance: as a Protestant he can never aspire to hold public office nor therefore effect any 14 social or political change; thus his impotence reappears in another form even in exile. After reading the critical letters of part two, no one could ever accuse Rousseau of lacking a sense of humor. In­ deed, the man who felt that he had "1’esprit de 1*escalier" put it to good use here. The scintillating atmosphere of the salons, and the often brilliant badinage, have crept in­ to the letters and reveal some of what has been called Paris' 15 "indefinable charm" for the author. ^ Rousseau fights fire with fire; and in the same way that the Provinciales dealt a blow to the Jesuits from which they have never recovered,

La Nouvelle11 11 ——H^loise — — — caused a permanent _- change in the eight- eenth century view of frivolity. Saint-Preux*s critique of the theater (letter XVI) 17 proves to be equally devastating. In his view, everybody talks too much on the stage, no moral lesson is imparted, and the audience only attends to be seen. Despite the pas­ sionate occurrences portrayed in many of the plays no actor is allowed to interpret these things in a passionate manner. The hero uses an hilarious example to illustrate the points' "Si le d^sespoir lui plonge un poignard dans le coeur, il ne tombe point, la dgcence le maintient debout apr&s sa mort, et tous ceux qui viennent d'expirer s'en retoument 1 ft I.'instant apr&s sur leurs jambes" (ll,xvii,231). The spectacle that Saint-Preux recounts with such verve typi­ fies the absurdity of many other aspects of life in the capital. All that he witnesses only confirms his belief that the natural order is topsy-turvy in Paris; nonetheless, he begins to feel himself swept up in the artificiality, "Je vois ainsi d^figurer ce divin module que je porte au dedans de moi," and farther on he amplifies the same idea, "Confus, 72 humili6, eonstem£ scntir d€grader en moi la nature de l'homme, et de me voir ravall si bas de cette grandeur int^rieure ou nos coeurs enflamra€s s'^levaient r^cipro- quement, je reviens le soir, p€n€tr£ d'une secrete tristesse, accabl£ d'un d^gout mortel, et le coeur vide et gonfl£ comme un ballon rempli d'air" (II,xvii,233), The words "d£figurer," "d^grader," ".humili^," "accabl£ and "d£go£lt" forcefully communicate Saint-Preux1 s disgust with society and with himself. They also connote the in­ sidious effects of disorder and confusion on man's inner self. He cries to Julie: "Avec quel charme je rentre en moi-meme!" The mood alternates smoothly between Julie's reports from her peaceful haven, and the turbulent life in Paris, and although the heroine continues to defend the French, she also does not have the advantages of observing them first-hand. With Claire's marriage Julie and Saint-Preux are obliged to find a new intermediary for their letters; the heroine does not feel that it is fair to compromise her cousin's new position. She reminds Saint-Preux, "Une femme vertueuse ne doit pas seuleraent m^riter 1'estime de son mari, mais 1'obtenir; s'il la bl&me, elle est bl&mable; et fftt-elle innocente, elle a tort sitot qu'elle est soupqonnde: car les apparences m&nes sont au nombre de ses devoirs" (II,xviii,235). Julie's sentiments seem noble but her dogmatic self-righteousness reveals a highly developed super-ego image. When the issue is virtue, Julie tends to lose sight of one all-important Christian concept: charity. She exhorts her teacher to see both sides of the case when it concerns the French, something that does not touch her direct­ ly, but when she judges herself she proves to be exception­ ally severe. In the course of their correspondence Julie realizes that Saint-Preux has said very little about the women of the 73 capital. Remembering his vivid impressions of the women of the Valais, her suspicions are aroused and she inquires why she has heard nothing "des plus s^duisantes personnes de l'univers." In fact, she adds cleverly "ton silence a leur £gard m'est beaucoup plus suspect que tes loges" (II, xviii,238). Nonetheless, in the interim between this re­ quest and her lover's dutiful reply, Julie sends Saint-Preux a miniature of herself, a talisman, "une espece d'amulette cue les amants portent volontiers," that will only be effec­ tive "entre les amants fideles" (II,xx,242). The heroine treats her portrait as a magical object that has the power to "unite" them during their separation. It will protect him against "le mauvais air du pays galant." However subtle the means, Julie invents many ways to guarantee her lover's "safety" and to be certain that he remain in her power when out of sight.^ Clearly the suffering of the protagonist caused by the separation from her lover, will out. Julie longs for Saint-Preux's presence and uses her gift as a means of expressing this; she confesses, "oui mon ami le sort a beau nous s^parer, pressons nos coeurs l'un contre 1'autre, conservons par la communication leur chaleur naturelle contre le froid de 1'absence et du d^sespoir tet que tout ce qui devrait relacher notre attachement ne sert nu'a le resserrer sans cesse" (II,xxiv,268). While the let­ ter announcing the amulet appears before the letter on Parisian women, Saint-Preux does not actually receive it until after he writes the latter. In this way, the im­ pression of Julie's image, of her natural beauty, occupies a strategic position, after the demolition of her Prench counterparts. One can only marvel at the perverse kindness of the "Parisiennes" in adoring Jean-Jacques' novel after his gen- 20 erally unflattering portrait of them. Perhaps he solves this problem in part himself when he has Saint-Preux tell 74

Julie, "aussi, comme le grand fl€au de tous ces gens si dissip4s est 1'ennui, les femmes se soucient-elles moins d'Stre aim4es qu’amus^es" (ll,xxi,248). It is possible that they found his commentary amusing! In any case, the meticulousness of the portrait could convey the ambivalence of attraction and repulsion which might flatter. There is every evidence that the gaiety, the boldness and the intelligence of these "creatures" fascinated and fright­ ened him. And while they are damned with'faint praise, the ladies, like many of the men of the day, obviously did not consider unseemly all of the dualities that Jean-Jacoues belittles. Given the task of rehabilitating society, Julie must differ from the women of France who represent corruption. At the same time Saint-Pretax's critique of them seeks to uncover their own injurious example and to pinpoint the so­ cial disorder they have helped to create. As the hero says, commenQons par 1*ext^rieur:" their faces, figures, bosoms, eyes, skin, walk, carriage, and fashions are closely scru­ tinized. And although he finds them too thin, with small breasts and generally not beautiful, he does appreciate their moderation and delicacy in dress, as well as their originality in adapting new styles to suit them individ­ ually. However, they tend to go to extremes to be indi­ vidual and in-order to assure that they are not imitated they imitate "les filles de joie." For the musically sen­ sitive and socially unsure Saint-Preux the voices of the Parisian women are particularly offensive, "C'est un certain accent dur, aigre, interrogatif, imp^rieux, moqueur, et plus fort que celui d'un homme" (ll,xxi,246). In addition, the obvious enjoyment they take in embarrassing others revolts the hero. He equates their artificial, exterior appearance, behavior and tone with the breakdown of moral­ ity in the capital. It is, after all, the duty of the 75 woman to set an example, and to restrain the more brutal side of man. In Saint-Preux*s view, the indiscriminate and constant mixing of the sexes has resulted in a society of weak men and loose women. Both marriage and love have become jokes, and adultery shocks no one. The seriousness of Saint-Preux*s accusations cannot be underestimated; he notes, "II semble que tout l'ordre des sentiments naturels soit ici renvers£." "L'adultere n*y r^volte point, on n*y trouve rien de contraire a la biensgance" (II,xxi,248). Once again the parallel between the situation in the capital and that of the lovers is highlighted! arranged alliances based on fortune and position have resulted in a complete disregard for marriage as a sacrament? Saint-Preux grimly describes these arrangements as "1*accord de deux personnes libres qui conviennent de demeurer ensemble, de porter le m§rae nom, de reconnaitre les m§mes enfants, mais qui n'ont, au surplus, aucune sorte de droit l'une sur 1*autre; et un mari qui s’ aviserait de contrfcler ici la mauvaise conduite de sa femme n*exciterait pas moins de murmures que celui qui suffrirait chez nous le d6sordre public de la sienne" (ll,xxi,249. It is obvious that Saint-Preux feels that the marriage customs of the Parisians need reforming, but of equal importance is that Julie will find herself tempted by adultery later in the book and her reactions must differ from those just described. The disorder and immorality engendered by the lack of tenderness, mutual esteem and com­ mitment in the "present" mores cannot be duplicated at Clarens. In fairness, Saint-Preux does cite some examples of enlightened women who are judicious and help others; he also admits that "ce sont elles seules qui conservent a Paris le peu d*humanity au1 on y voit regner encore, et que sans elles on verrait les hommes avides et insatiables s'y d^vorer comme des loups" (II,xxi,255). As the most important polit- 76 ical, intellectual, commercial, and artistic center in Europe, Paris serves as an example to the rest of the world, consequently its moral posture becomes a central issue for .Rousseau. It is clear that while "la galanterie franqaise" and women remain the principal subjects of his letter, it also contains a severe indictment of French men. Because of their greed and ambition in material affairs, and their complacency in moral matters, they tacitly condone the de­ cadence in the capital, and thereby allow it to persist. In addition, Saint-Preux clearly sees the duplicity that e- volves between the sexes when such a state of corruption con­ tinues unchecked. Despite the surace amenities true respect does not exist in the majority of the relationships between men and women. The "authority" that the women possess be­ comes the symbol of their debasement, "Au reste cette autorit£ ne suppose ni attachement ni estime, mais seulement de la politesse et de 1*usage du raonde; car d'ailleurs il n' est pas moins essentiel a la galanterie francaise de m^priser les femmes aue de les servir" (ll,xxi,254). What Saint-Preux comments upon here attaches to the "trompe l'oeil" impression created by the liberal mixing of the sexes; one is led to believe that eauality exists between them, whereas, in reality this presents a far from accurate pic­ ture. Reciprocal respect does not mark their relation­ ships, but rather a subtle continuation of the battle of the sexes on a more elegant, polished, and therefore, insid- , 21 i o u s plane. Immediately after the long, serious reflection on the state of Parisian society, Saint-Preux receives Julie's gift, the portrait; he becomes so disoriented that he gets lost, for the first time, on his return home. The hero shows himself to be so susceptible to his mistress's slight­ est utterance that he is immediately plunged into a state of breathless delight as he feels the "magical" effects of the 77 talisman, Enchanted by the sight of Julie's image he asks, "We sens-tu pas tes yeux, tes joues, ta bouche, ton sein, presses, comprim^s, accabl^s de raes ardents baisers? ne sens-tu pas embraser tout entilre du fen de p p mes llvres brftlantes?" (Il,xxii,258). The hero proves to be far more aggressive when he is separated from his love that when he is at her side. The vertigo of passion and the absolute control that Julie exercises over her lover are underscored in this episode. The confusion triggered by a work of art is mirrored in the description that follows of the Paris Opera which is to Saint-Preux a total artistic disorder. The hero's critiaue of the celebrated Paris Opera, addressed to his other student, Claire, continues his re­ portage tff all that he finds chaotic in the capital. Saint-Preux makes a mockery of the whole "grande illusion:" the sets, machines, supernumeraries suspended from wires in the air or suddenly materializing out of trap doors, and the interpolation of meaningless ballet sequences. After ridiculing the multiple tricks involved in mounting an opera, Saint-Preux attacks the music, the voices, and the extravagant acting; he concludes that they are all so horrid that it is difficult to decide which is the more outraged, the ear or the eye. A detailed enumeration of the faults in both instruments and voices brings him to the decision that "tout cela est d'un faux a choquer l'oreille la moins delicate" (II,xxiii,265). While ex­ plaining the dearth of musical talent in Prance, Saint- Preux uncovers still another characteristic of the French that he deplores: the refusl to admit that they have any shortcomings: Tous les talents ne sont pas donnSs au mSmes homines; et en g6n6ral le Fran^ais paralt §tre 1 de tous les peuples de 1*Europe celui qui a le moins d'aptitide & la musique. Milord Edouard pretend que les Anglais en ont aussi peu; mais la difference est que ceux-ci le savent et ne 78

s'en soucient ^u£re, au lieu que les Prangais renonceraient a raille justes droits, et passeraient condamnation sur toute autre chose, p>lut8t que de convenir au' ils ne sont pas les premiers musiciens du monde. (II,xxiii,265). Actually the criticism of the opera aligns itself with that of'the other letters because the same quality that revolts Saint-Preux in Paris society and manners reappears in the arts: a false taste for magnificence. The hero delivers the coup de gr&ce when he cites La Bruyere as having had a similar reaction to the opera, "Je le congois bien, moi, qui ne suis pas un La Bruylre; et je soutiens aue, pour tout homrae qui n*est pas d^pourvu du goftt des beaux-arts, la musiaue frangaise, la danse et le merveilleux mel£s ensemble, feront toujours de l'Opdra de Paris le plus ennuyeux spectacle aui puisse exister" III,xxiii,267-268) The hero1 s sharpened critical faculties spare nothing, and he even revises his first opinion of the miniature that Julie has sent him. He objects to the inanimate quality of the portrait— it is not Julie, and the only condition he can envisage to appreciate it would be not to have known its sub­ ject. This letter affords a perfect moment for a precise 24. description of the heroine; it also displays once again the remarkable talent for observation that Saint-Preux shares with the other characters in the novel. Beside his more de­ tached analysisof Julie's charms, the hero's jealousy sur­ faces again; he resents the artist who painted it. He speaks Off "son art t£m£raire," and "sa main ardente" in capturing his subjects beauty. In fact, Saint-Preux becomes so un­ settled by Julie's over-exposed bosom in the portrait that he engages a master artist to correct this "fault." Thus, through art, errors can be corrected; this phenomenon un­ veils yet another correspondence between the part and the 25 whole in Rousseau's novel. The succeeding letter paints the total disorder, by now contagious, which Paris has wrought on-the hero's vulnerable 79

spirits Saint-Preux, duped by "friends" into having dinner with some courtesans, becomes inebriatediand awakens in the arms of one of the "creatures." In his humiliated confession to Julie he nonetheless subtly blames her for his degradations "Soutiens mon courage aui s'^teint; donne a mes remords la force d* avouer le crime involontaire que ton absence m' a laiss£ commettre." (II,xxvi,272). This letter echoes the maudlin one that the hero sent to Julie after having drunk too much and insulted her (I,li). The debilitating effects of living surrounded by vice have taken their toll on Saint- Preux; the many excesses present in Paris are reflected in this degrading encounter where for the first time he experi­ ences the remorse "d'un piege sans appas et d'un crime sans p £ charmes." Julie's response contains a combination of reassuring sermonizing, "Ce n'est pas moi, c'est vous que vous avez offens! par un d£sordre auauel le coeur n'eut point de part," (II,xxvii,276) and reasonable reproaches, "Une seconde faute, plus grave encore et beaucoup moins pardonnable, est d'avoir pu passer volontairement la soiree dans un lieu si peu digne de vous, et de n'avoir pas fui dls le premier instant ou vous avez connu dans auelle maison vous Stiez" (II,xxvii, 278-279). Nonetheless, Julie remains adamant in her pri­ mary criticism of his actions as the direct result of fre­ quenting the wrong people, and for not having riiade an at­ tempt to meet honest members of the bourgeoisie. She re­ minds him that he should consult his conscience about this tawdry affair, and although he prefers to consider himself an observer, rather than a participant, there are some things that are not worthy of observation. Julie stresses the existing disorder which instead of trying to ameliorate, Saint-Preux has contributed to, "Le sage observe le d^sordre public qu'il ne peut arrSter; il 1'observe, et montre sur son visage attrist6 la douleur qu'il lui cause. Mais quant 80

aux d£sordres particuliers, il s'y oppose, ou dltourne les yeux de peur qu*ils ne s'autorisent de sa presence" (II, xxvii,280). The heroine*s obvious distaste for her former tutor's behavior is mirrored in her use of "vous" through­ out the letter. Although her tone remains severe, she fi­ nally relents slightly, and admits that his sincere con­ fession has touched her; she concludes by reaffirming her love for him. Nevertheless, the fear that Saint-Preux may have a relapse haunts her, and causes her some anxiety. Julie's calm, analytical tone suddenly evaporates in her next letter which closes part two. The finale, a coup de theatre. plunges the couple once more into an abyss of hopelessness: their letters have been discovered by Mme d'Etange. Julie's disrupted calm is reflected in the chop­ py, unfinished sentences, the many exclamation points, vocatives, and her return to "tu" in addressing her lover, like Phedre Julie wants to flee, to hide herself "au sein de la terre;" the guilt and confusion which have been ab­ sent from her letters for almost the entire length of book two burst through with renewed force. To lie to her mother she knows would be despicable, and her final melodramatic words prepare book three: "adieu, nous sommes perdus" (II, xxviii,285). This unexpected turn of events disrupts the already unsteady status quo imposed through their separation. While Saint-Preux seems to have been aware of the precariousness of his own psychological state, Julie, on the contrary, de­ luded herself into believing that they could be happy in this suspended state. The denouement of part two belies this latter notion. As a result, Julie must face her mother alone, and Saint-Preux again finds himself in a helpless position because of his absence from the scene of crisis. The classical sparseness of book two, the juxtaposi­ tion between vice and virtue, and the altered relationship 8 1 between the lovers are reproduced in the staccato move­ ment of their correspondence. Similarly the two dominate xng symbols here serve to reinforce these rather abrupt variations in mood: Paris which represents vice and dis­ order, and Julie's portrait which designates not just the heroine but the power of the couple's love. On still an­ other plane both Julie and Paris are depicted as subjects of works of art. The French capital, before and since the eighteenth century, has figured in more works of literature than probably any other city in the world. Its magnetism and madness have fascinated writers, among other artists, across the centuries. In the same way, Julie, Rousseau's own Galatea, herself patterned on a number of literary archetypes (Iseult, H^loise, B£r£nice, Phedre and the Princesse de Cleves) will in turn become the model for a procession of sentimental heroines. In this regard book two possesses many Platonic overtones: it depicts the im­ age of an image; the former condemned to be only a pale re­ production of the true Form: the Ideal Woman. Rousseau's attempts to perfect the image will increase in the succeed­ ing sections of his novel. Julie, the character, represents an attempt through art at purification and elevation toward Beauty, Order and all that is good. Julie, the novel, encloses the pro­ tagonist and traces the development and the rehabilitation of virtue. If Julie had no weaknesses she would not offer a very uplifting example; her struggle toward a moral ethic remains of great interest and engages us. Just as Saint- Preux found it necessary to alter the portrait of Julie in order to render it more beautiful, more like the heroine, so Rousseau now must enhance his creation's moral beauty by developing her strength of character. She must be per­ fected. Book three offers us the first steps of the transi­ tion from a "weak" young girl to a virtuous married woman ever-conscious of her higher duties. 8 2

FOOTNOTES

"^Lionel Gossman has noted of Saint-Preux, "His dependence on his mistress is absolute. He suffers accdtely when she seems to place the established order and its values higher than those of individuality, according to which alone he can be counted." "The Worlds of La Nouvelle H£loiset" Studies on Voltaire and the 18th (Tentury, 3&I (l$t>6)), pp. 251-252. p Obviously this definition would not include Wolmar whose only passion is for observation. Thus, although an effort is made to enhance Colmar's image as a man of great wisdom, he remains an incomplete being in the novel: he not only lacks passion but he has not been accorded grace: he is an atheist.

^Jean-Louis Lecercle remarks that "un tic du style de Rousseau c'est l'uniaue constamraent. II concoit ses personnages comme il se concevra lui-meme, uniques par leurs sentiments et leurs actions." Rousseau et 1* art du roman, (Paris: Armand Colin, 1969), pp. i

^An extreme example of a similar choice occurs in Huis clos when for a brief moment the door opens and no one leaves. The essence of Julie's tragedy resides in the idea that she is trapped.

■'Significantly, there is no word in the French language for "elope1;" Julie is neither Manon nor des Grieux, her entire background would naturally cause her to revolt a- gainst such an action. She cannot accept? there is no real choice.

^Claire, like Edouard, Wolmar and Saint-Preux, is peculiar­ ly unencumbered by familial ties. To the extent that these characters represent Jean-Jacques' own similar situation they ring truer as creations whereas Julie, who finds her­ self in a situation less "real" for her creator, has a ri­ gidity that the others do not possess.

^In later sections, Wolmar will prove to be the most able manipulator of them all.

Q Denis de Rougemont's principal argument in Love in the West­ ern World is based upon the need which he uncovers in doomed lovers to erect, obstacles in the way of their passion in or­ der to perpetuate it. Carol Blum mentions what seems to me to be a similar phenomenon, "erotic arousal was more potent than satisfaction to him (Rousseau). Rousseau found his pleasure in prolonged sexual tension." In "Styles of Cog­ nition in La Nouvelle HSioIse and Les Liaisons dangereueses. 83

PMIiA (March 1973), p. 290. Q ^1 use the term here in the Gidian sense to describe a mirror effect in which the main story line is reflected in miniature somewhere within the work; Gide commented: "J1aime assez qu'en une oeuvre d'art on retrouve...transpose a 1"Schelle des personnages le sujet m§me de cette oeuvre." A famous example of this technique is found in the Van Eyck painting, "John Amolfini and his Wife," in which the scene depicted in the painting is reflected in a mirror within the painting itself. Rousseau has already "warned" the reader in the preface that he is publishing the letters so that they may be of use and instruct. Here Saint-Preux himself is using his mistress's letters for moral edifica­ tion and strength. 10 A symmetry exists between II,xviii, in which Julie re­ counts the details of Claire's wedding to her lover, and III,xviii, in which she tells Saint-Preux of her own mar­ riage .

■^Paul H. Meyer states that "Rousseau's rejection of the fashionable French idiom of his day is tantamount to a dec­ laration of war on a society's way of life because to him the two are inseparable," "Rousseau and the French Lan­ guage," L'Esprit Crdateur, (Fall 1969), p. 196. The phrase accurateTy describes Saint-Preux's hostile stance here.

12Christie Vance has noted, "In La Nouvelle Hdloise, as in his earlier works, Rousseau shows that 'the manner in-which people use language reflects the moral condition of socie­ ty." In VLa Nouvelle H^lolse: the language of Paris," Yale French Studies, 45 (J970), P. 127.

^ A precise expression by the hero of his creator's own dilemma. As Mauzi has observed, "Le bonheur appartient ceux qui ont invent^ un milieu entre la solitude et la sociability, sachant se tenir par rapport au monde a la bonne distance.'1 Mauzi lists two people from the eighteenth centu­ ry whose life styles reflect this equilibrium: Mme de Choiseul and Montesquieu, Of the latter he says, "Le bonheur de Montesauieu semble se rSduire a un art tout spontany du balancement." L'id^e du bonheur dans la litterature, et la pensye francais^s iu XTTlIe siScle (Paris: Airmand Colin, W 7 T 7 P. 35 & P. 37. ■^Ultimately, perhaps the most important distinctions one must stress in order to understand Rousseau's conflicts with the French are that he was Swiss and Protestant. 84

^Meyer, p. 188. The author also reminds us that Rousseau recommended that Emile spend some time in Paris to culti­ vate his mind, his spirit of conversation and his perception, p. 189 ^^auzi tells us that after La Nouvelle Hgloise any apology for frivolity was impossible and even a little scandalous, p. 29. ^ I t should be recalled that while the Lettre a d1 Alembert appeared in 1758, Rousseau was working on the novel when he wrote it, and he freely used examples from Saint-Preux*s letter in the former. Peter Brooks has made a perceptive comment on their relationship, "The Lettre a d*Alembert is directed to the question of the theaier, buT Its arguments by implication extend to the novel and indicate clearly both why Rousseau rejects the novel of worldliness and why he must apply his lesson of morality to his time in a form of the novel." The Novel of Worldliness Cr£billon, Marivaux« Laclos. Stendhal. (Princeton:Princeton Univ. ]?ress, 196$, p. 147.

■I Q Diderot also complained that the French theater portray­ ed useless and often ridiculous characters with whom no one in the audience could identify. See Le paradoxe sur le com^dien, in Oeuvres (Paris: Plliade, *1^51)» PP* 1032- TU52 in particular. 1 9 In the Middle Ages this type of love token, classified as drueriet was often used to symbolize the power of love. Chris'fcie Vance in the article cited above sees the talisman as "an emblem of their non-verbal communication." p. 131 Vance's notion is applicable here in two ways: first it underlines the contrast between the non-stop talkers in Paris.and Julie# and second it prepares the many silent scenes that are stressed later in the novel such as the matinee a 1* anglaise.

Q A Commenting on the reception of La Nouvelle H^lolse in gen­ eral in the Confessions Rousseau sa y s ," tea sentiments furent partag^s chez les gens de lettres, mais dans le monde il n'y eut qu'un avis, et les femmes surtout s'enivr£rent et du Livre et de 1'auteur, au point qu*il y en avoit peu, meme dans les hauts rangs, dont je n'eusse fatt la conquite si je I'avois entrepris. J'ai de cela des preuves que je ne veux pas Icrire, et aui, sans avoir eu besoin de 1*experi­ ence autorisent mon opinion. II est sigulier aue ce livre ait mieux reussi en France que dans le reste de 1'Europe quoique les Francois homines et femmes n'y soient pas fort bien traits." O.C., Vol. I (Paris: Pl^iade, 1959), p. 545. 85

21 While Rousseau has often been accused of being anti­ feminist, in this case, he clearly understood the dangers inherent in putting women on a pedestal. 22 The portrait, and Saint-Preux's use of it, also recalls the celebrated Salle aux images in the Thomas version of Tristan et Iseut to which the hero retires to worship the image he has made of his mistress, Iseut.

2-^While this opinion could not have pleased the Establish­ ment of the period, it was one that Rousseau shared with most of the other philosophes. In 1752 in the Querelle des Bouffons Grimm, Diderot and Rousseau banded together, and the following year Rousseau published his Lettre sur la musique francaise.

2^A comparison between Rousseau's description of Mme de Warens in the Confessions 0. C. Vol. I (Paris: Pl£iade, 1959)* pp. 48-50, and Julie (II,xxv,269-272) reveals that the author's ideal woman strongly resembled the great love of his life "Maman." 2^Rousseau's Pygmalion side emerges in this episode. He wants his creation, Julie, to be perfect or as he wishes her to be. Actually the fault that Saint-Preux finds with the miniature, it does not have Julie's soul, parallels Galatea's "fault." p (Z In the Confessions Rousseau tells us, "J'avois pour les filles publiaues une horreur aui ne s'est jamais effacS" and "Des femmes a prix d'argent perdroient pour moi tous les charmes, je doute m6me s'il serait en moi d'en profiter."; O.C. Vol. I, p. 16. 86

CHAPTER III

MARRIAGE

One could characterize La Nouvelle HSlolae as a long evasion that fails. The separation of the lovers in book two misses its mark completely. Rather than restoring order, it causes an even greater disorder: Saint-Preux’s degrading encounter in the brothel precedes the terrible discovery of his letters to Julie by Mme dlEtange. This event produces another drastic attempt to restore order in book three; in a sense, Mme d'Etange’s discovery seals her daughter's fate. The climax of the novel, Julie's marriage to Wolmar, occurs in part three. The decision to marry has already been prepared by the heroine's refusal to elope with Saint- Preux. Already torn and guilt ridden because of her illicit liaison with her former tutor, Julie's resistance to her duty will be completely undone by the trauma of her mother's death. There are a number of parallels to be drawn between books one and three; the drastic methods employed in both to restore order will be examined along with other similari­ ties. Once again an analysis of the correspondence, its disposition and movement will aid in clarifying these ideas. Although the number of letters is reduced to twenty-six, the confusion of part three is communicated in that it has the largest number of correspondents of any other part of the novel. The breakdown of the letters follows: from Julie to Saint-Preux 5 letters and 1 note from Saint-Preux to Julie 2 letters and 1 note from Claire to Saint Preux 5 letters from Saint Preux to Claire 2 letters from Milord Edouard to S-P 4 letters from S-P to Milord Edouard 3 letters from Julie to Claire 1 letter from Claire to Julie 1 letter from S-P to Mme d'Etange 1 letter from Baron d'Etange to S-P 1 letter from S-P to Baron d'Etange 1 letter 87

Totals: Saint-Preux writes nine letters and one note, Julie six letters and one note, Claire six letters, Edouard four letters, the Baron one letter. For the first time the lovers' correspondence does not dominate: they exchange only seven letters and two notes. Significantly, the rupture that Julie's marriage will pro­ duce is reflected in these numbers. Saint-Preux writes to and receives mail from everybody in part three: partly be­ cause he is still isolated from the others, and partly be­ cause the drama centers around the forcible breaking of his ties to Julie, the hero becomes the focus of everyone's attention. On the other hand, Julie writes only to her lover and to her confidant. The heroine's narrowing horizons cause her to seek refuge with the two people she loves most. Not suprisingly, as the lovers' exchanges diminish the breadth of the roles of Claire and Edouard increases. Because Julie's fate hangs in the balance here, for the first (and last) time both the baron and Mme d'Etange figure in the correspondence. Although Mme d'Etange does not write any letters, she receives one. This silence is in keeping with her shadowy presence in the novel. As to the disposition of the letters, it is worth noting that except for the brief note between letters eleven and twelve, Saint-Preux does not write to Julie until letter six­ teen; his (or their) punishment is stressed through this further deprivation of contact. His last letter (nineteen) to Julie also comes well before the conclusion of book three, although the hero's farewell letter to Claire is meant to include his former mistress too. With the exception of letter eighteen, the tone of part three returns to the passionate lyricism of the opening book. Death appears in many guises and remains omni-present at this important juncture. Curiously, the two longest let­ ters, eighteen and twenty-one, deal with marriage and suicide 88 respectively— two subjects that are closely related in La Nouvelle H^loxse. Just as the tone shifts to the passion­ ate one found in part one, the movement also returns to the wave-like motion observed there. The diagram on the follow­ ing page illustrates the rise to crescendo and the descent with resolution in various categories of order. Book three begins with a strong, reproachful letter from Claire to the hero. In it she exhorts Saint-Preux to renounce his love. Claire suggests the possibility that Mme d ’Etange may die, and it is clear that she intends Saint- Preux to feel, at least in part, responsible for this state of affairs: "Craignez d'ajouter le deuil a nos larmes; craignez aue la mort d'une mire afflig£e ne soit le dernier effet du poison aue vous versez dans le coeur de sa fille, et qu'un amour dlsordonnl ne devienne enfin pour vous-meme la source d' un remords Iternel" (111,1,287). The ”inse­ parable" herself adopts a Racinian tone and vocabulary to describe Saint-Preux*s love for her cousin; she speaks of the former "secret de vos feux" and her aunt's "fatale illusion" regarding her daughter's behavior. It is apparent that Mme d'Etange blames herself for having engaged a sensitive, handsome, young man to be Julie's preceptor. Realizing fully that Saint-Preux will do anything to spare Julie pain, Claire stresses her cousin's deteriorating psychological state; Julie is painted at her mother's bed­ side "dans un Itat d' anlantissement.11 The negative outcome of the lovers' past behavior is accented in the words "cacher," "voiler," "secret", and "fureur" which appear throughout Claire's letter. Secret invariable equals evil in Rousseau and the use of terms of deception here under­ scores the evil effects of Julie and Saint-Preux's hidden love affair.^" Claire urges the hero "soyez aujourd'hui ce que vous devez 8tre" (III,i,289). In other words, cease being the disfigured person who has been corrupted by society, and be the person who is capable of a noble action because he C. Crescendo

4. Threats , R em orse

3. R eassurances 2. D e sp a ir

2. Remorse 3. R e sign atio n

B. 1. Reproaches 4. Reassurances

A. Status quo Hrflor 1. Superficial 2. Virtuous 3. N a tu ra l 4. Sensible

WAVES

I. ( B 1 )!; (B2)2; (B1^; (B3)4 (C)5 (D X)6 (E 1* 4 )7

U. (B1^; (B3)9; (B^note; (B1' 4)10; (G)12, 13, 14 (D3)15; (D2)16 (E 1' 4 )!?

(B1)!!; (B1 )note in. {A)18 (B2» 3)18 (C)18 (D4 )18 (E 2)18

IV. (A)19 (B3)20 (C)21 (D4)22, 23; (D3)24 (E1)25; (E3)26 90

possesses an innate sense of goodness. As Claire sees it, Saint-Preux's choices are limited: "11 faut immoler votre maitresse ou votre amour 1'un k 1'autre, ou vous montrer le plus ltche ou plus vertueux des hommes" (III,i,289). Virtue is incessantly invoiced as the only sure road to happiness. And while "Les premiers actes de vertu sont toujours les plus p£nibles" (III,i,289), the clear implica­ tion is that the beneficent effects of cultivating virtuous behavior far outweigh the pain caused by renunciation. The hero becomes so convinced of his terror" that he immediately writes to Mme d'Etange to confess his "crime" and to vow never to see Julie again. In Cornelian fashion, he aspires to imitate his mistress's example, "Julie m'a trop appris comment il faut immoler le bonheur au devoir; elle m'en a trop courageusement donn£ l'exemple, pour au’au moins une fois je ne sache pas 1'imiter" (III,ii,291). With his accustomed passivity the hero is ready to allow Mme d'Etange's will (or Claire's) to override his own: "Je me soumets, non sans effroi, mais sans murmure, a tout ce que vous daignerez~ ordonner d'elle et de moi" (III,ii,291). In spite of his general passivity, the hero does vent some of his anger on Claire? he accuses her of breaking up his relation­ ship with Julie: "Votre main barbare a done os£ les rompre ces doux noeuds formas sous vos yeux presque d&s I'enfance, et aue votre amiti£ semblait partager avec tant de plaisir" (lll,iii,292). In this letter for the first time, a character cries out against virtue. Saint-Preux has suffered a great deal in its name, and he now seems unconvinced as to its merits: Insens6e et farouche vertu! j'oblis a ta voix sans mlrite; je t'abhorre en faisant tout pour toi. Que sont tes vaines consolations contre les vives douleurs de 1'8me? Va, triste idole des malheureux, tu ne fais qu'augmenter leurs mis&res en leur 8tant les ressources que la fortune leur laisse. (III,iii,292). 91

In her reply, Claire chooses to ignore her preceptor's anger; she cleverly praises him for his noble resolve, and hails the triumph of virtue in his soul. Claire re­ mains a super-ego figure throughout the novel; she repre­ sents not just common sense but conscience. She attempts to infuse a sense of super-ego into the hero who seems quite lacking in it. His personality remains dominated by id and ego drives with very little sense of "conscience" per se. On the other hand, Claire manages throughout the work to suppress her libidinous drives. She sublimates them in her love for Julie. The only character who strong­ ly manifests all components of the personality (id, ego and super-ego) is the heroine. In parts one and two she allowed herself to be dominated by sexual and self-centered drives, whereas by the end of part three she will experience the conquest of the id by the super-ego. As a result of this conquest, Julie will feel cured and exhilarated. When Claire reads Saint-Preux's letter to lime d'Etange its effect is very dramatic; her lover's noble oath of renunciation causes Julie to fall into a dead faint, "et 1'effort qu' a fait la pauvre Julie pour contenir a cette lecture ses soupirs et ses pleurs 1'a fait tomber 4vanouie" (III,iv,293)• As has been noted, the heroine's body often rebels when she forces herself, to maintain a faqade. 'While congratulating Saint-Pruex on his exemplary be­ havior, Claire does not forget to mention that he and Julie are "hors de la r&gle commune," although she is careful to stress at the same time the nobility of sacrifice: "s'il peut rester quelque ressource a votre amour, elle est dans le sacrifice que l'honneur et la raison vous imposent" (III,iv,294). Claire proves to be as effective a preacher as Julie herself; free from inner conflict, Claire's solution to her former tutor's difficulties remains simple: "II n'est point de route plus sftre pour aller au bonheur que celle 92 de la vertu" (III,iv,294). After all, she reminds her for­ lorn friend, the only thing worse than losing Julie would he to be unworthy of having her. The linking of love and esteem recalls similar statements made by the heroine in part one. It also underscores the Platonic character of love so often referred to in the novel. The first crescendo in book three occurs in letter five. Although all communication was to have been stopped between the lovers, it is Julie who writes to Saint-Preux to inform him of her mother1s death. Julie* s leaden despair is re­ flected in the classical style of the epistle; the initial "Elle n'est plus," has a dark finality and reveals the sober­ ing effect her mother's death has had on her. The heroine’s guilt threatens to engulf her, and she seems determined to punish herself for what she considers to be Mme d'Etange*s premature demise. She cries: "Je suis raorte au bonheur, li 1*innocence; je ne sens plus que ta perte; et je ne vois plus que ma honte; ma vie n'est plus que peine et douleur" (III,v,295). The nostalgia for innocence, peace and happi­ ness characterizes the whole novel; it invariably seems to be associated with youth, or with a period when one was pro- p tected by the mother. Julie avenges herself on Saint-Preux by implicating him in Mme d'Etange's "murder:" "Vous par qui je plongeai le couteau dans le sein maternel, g&nissez des maux qui me viennent de vous, et sentez avec moi l'horreur d'un parricide qui fut votre ouvrage" (III,v,295). In this moment of grief and shock Julie becomes quite vindictive. She closes her "last" letter to her lover with a long series of optatives that express her desire never to see or hear from him again, but in spite of this tirade she can bare­ ly keep herself from a few last tender words. Prevented from answering Julie's letter, the hero pens a lyrical reply to Claire in which he blames himself for all that has transpired. In this moment of intense remorse, the 93

hero becomes extremely lucid and sees himself and Julie more clearly than he had before; Saint-Preux touches upon the crux of their dilemma when he says of Julie: "L'amour vainqueur fit le malheur de sa vie, 1'amour vaincu ne la rendra que plus a plaindre. Bile passera ses jours dans la douleur, tourment^e a la fois de vains regrets et de vains d£sirs, sans pouvoir jamais contenter ni 1*amour ni la vertu" (III, vi,297). In effect, Saint-Preux has crystallized what will be the heroine's conflict for the remainder of the novel. The ability to reconcile love, virtue and happiness will elude Julie throughout the work. Claire's measured reply resolves the crescendo of the first wave and alters the melodramatic perspective the lovers have of Mme d'Etange's death. The admiration that Claire feels for Saint-Preux because of his generosity (his willing­ ness to conform to her will) is reflected in the new maternal attitude she adopts toward him. Although she and Julie are younger than their former tutor, Claire now feels that he is their disciple. She informs him: "Toute la difference est cue je vous aimais comme mon fr&re, et qu'a present je vous aime comme mon enfant" (III,vii,299). It is a rather curious admission, but it prepares the role that Saint-Preux will assume later at Clarens when he returns to live with Julie and Wolmar. As the young man he acts out a son role with both Wolmar and his wife.^ In her ode to virtue, Claire contrasts its lasting effects with the fragility of love: sooner or later time, the archenemy of passion, would have eclipsed Saint-Preux's love for Julie: Le temps etlt joint au ' d^goftt d'une longue possession le progr&s de l'&ge et le d£clin de la beauts: il semble se fixer en votre faveur par votre separa­ tion; vous serez toujours 1' un pour 1'autre a la fleur des ans; vous vous verrez sans cesse tels que vous vous vites en vous quittant; et vos coeurs, unis jusqu'au tombeau, plongeront dans une illusion charmante votre jeunesse avec vos amours. (III,vii,300) 94

Claire's reasoned defense of separation offers little com­ fort to the unhappy hero, however, real solace can be de­ rived from her analysis of Mme d'Etange's death; she ex­ plains that if anyone hastened her aunt's end it was the baron d'Etange and not the lovers. In fact, Claire is per­ suaded that Julie's superb care of her mother prolonged rather than shortened her days. The portrait Claire draws of Julie's father is not a flattering one; it reveals his brutality and selfishness: "Longtemps inconstant et volage, il prodigua les feux de sa jeunesse a mille objets moins dignes de plaire aue sa vertueuse compagne; et, quand l'age le lui eut ramenS, il conserve pres d'elle cette rudesse inflexible dont les maris infideles ont accoutum£ d'aggraver leurs torts" (III,vii,302). The baron's blood flows in his daughter's veins; Julie has a dominating passionate na­ ture. These characteristics would have caused little diffi­ culty in a young man in the eighteenth century; however, in 4 a young woman they become dangerous traits. Fully aware that Jylie has not forgotten her lover, Claire makes a num­ ber of astute psychological observations about her cousin's emotional state. She then hastens to affirm that Julie is in no danger of a "rechute" because Julie has changed. Saint- Preux has no hope of possessing the same Julie with whom he 5 first fell in love. The second wave does not begin from a status quo posi­ tion anymore than the first one did, Edouard's letter of reprimand to the hero begins the ascent of the second wave just as Claire's had begun the first. The second wave immedi­ ately precedes the crescendo of Julie's marriage in wave three; as a result, it is characterized by a great deal of frantic movement, and a number of incidents. Just as the climax of the first wave was the death tff Mme d'Etange that of the second marks the near demise of the heroine. Let­ ters eight, nine, ten, eleven and the two notes which com­ 95 prise the ascent are all relatively short; they create the effect of pushing the wave quickly to its crest. In rapid succession Edouard reproaches his friend for his long silence, and suspects that Saint-Preux may he contemplating suicide. The scolding arrives at an auspicious moments the hero having felt abandoned by everyone derives pleasure from Edouard1 s concern, and he begs his friend to join him. Saint-Preux1s reply to his friend is swiftly followed by Julie1s remorse­ ful note demanding her liberty from her lover. The note is enclosed in an offensive letter from the baron. Although Saint-Preux acciuiesces, this time he defends himself against the baron1 s injustice. He informs Juliet father that he has agreed to release her from her Vow because Julie has asked him to do so: "Julie a parld; voila mon consentement" (III, xi,305). The angry statements the hero hurls at his mistress^ father contain a bitter premonitions "Vos regrets me vengeront un jour des maux que vous me faites, et vous sentirez trop tard que votre haine aveugle et d£natur£e ne vous fut pas moins funeste qu'stmoi (lll,xi,306). Saint-Preux sets Julie free in a single poignant sentence: "Je rends a Julie d^tange le droit de disposer d^lle-m&ne, et de donner sa main sans consulter son coeur" (III,billet,306). After this dramatic rupture, the following letter comes as a surprise. Unable to bear what has transpired. Julie, on the verge of collapse, must communicate with the man she loves. Peeling betrayed by the rigors of honor and duty, the heroine makes a vain effort to be stoic: "II faut g&mir et se taire," and she reveals her desire to die: "Adieu, mes uniques amours. Adieu, pour la dernilre fois, cher et tendre ami de Julie. Ah! si je ne dois plus vivre pour toi n1 ai-je pas d6ja cess<§ de vivre?" (Ill, xii,307). It is evident that Juliet body once again will reveal the truth and will in the end provide the only escape route open to her. Thus letters twelve, thirteen and four­ teen constitute the crescendo of wave two; they depict the 96

heroine1 s brush with death, as well as Saint-Preux1s desire to contract the disease which nearly claims his love. Letter twelve introduces Julie1 s illness, letter thir­ teen recalls the hazy occurrences as they appeared to the deliriously ill heroine and by contrast, letter fourteen presents Claire^ rational account of what actually happen­ ed over this period. Julie reproaches her cousin for hav­ ing nursed her back to life; she had hoped to join her mother. What is important here is that Julie associates her plight with that of her mother: in the protagonists eyes, Mme d^tange died because of what she felt, not because of an illness. In this way, Juliet own death in part six has affinities with her mother1 s. Stricken with smallpox, Julie is haunted by a 11 dream" she had during the course of her ill­ ness. In this dream Saint-Preux appears to her in a distraught state, "II £tait §. genoux; il prit une de mes mains et sans se d£go£lter de l 16tat o& elle 6tait, sans craindre la communica­ tion d1!^! venin si terrible, il la couvrait de baisers et de larmes" (m^xii, 308). What the heroine has just described constitutes the celebrated "inoculation d1amour" in which Saint-Preux attempts to infect himself with his mistress^ malady. In recounting her feelings in the "dream" Claire^ role as conscience is again underscored; Julie remembers: "Je voulus m 1Slancer vers lui; on me retint; tu lrarrachas de ma presence; et ce qui me toucha le plus vivement, ce furent ses g6missements que je crus entendre a mesure qu1il s^loignait" (III,xiii,308). Finally Juliet guilt over the pain she has inflicted on Saint-Preux surfaces, and she won­ ders if her "dream" was a vision of the h e r o ^ fate: "Est-ce un pressentiment de la raort du meilleur des hommes? Est-ce un avertissement qu1 il n1 est d£ja plus?" (Ill,xiii,309). Psychologically, the heroine^ "premonition" can be viewed as a death-wish for her lover. Her situation is untenable: she does not want to live without him, and he is forbidden to 97

her— death offers a sure haven and an irrevocable solution. After all that Julie has suffered emotionally and physically, she longs for a respite from her tormented existence. If Saint-Preux were suddenly gone forever that would certainly resolve her dilemma.^ In her response (letter fourteen), Claire firmly dis­ suades her cousin from her "dream" theory. Even the sensi­ ble Claire seems depressed by Juliefe strange forebodings, and she too begins to attribute much of her cousin's trouble to fate when she remarks: "Ton ascendant est plus fort que tous mes soins" (III,xiv,310). In order to disabuse her friend, Claire recounts the entire scene in minute detail. Saint-Preux's fear and trembling upon approaching Julie's room recall similar feelings on his prior visit to this sanctuary. The link between passion and death becomes dra­ matically underscored here; Claire auotes the hero as cry-i. ing out: "Que vais-je voir maintenant dans ce mSme objet qui faisait et partageait mes transports? L'image du tr£pas, un appareil de douleur, la vertu malheureuse et la beauts mourante!" (III,xiv,312). Claire also confirms that Saint-Preux did contract smallpox and was himself near death when Edouard joined him. As for Julie, she has some minor scars to remind her of the "disease." The idea that Julie's flesh is now permanently marked by her passion crystallizes Edouard's earlier metaphor that the heroine's entire being was permeated with the "eau-forte et corrosive" 10 of her love for Saint-Preux. The triptych quality of the second crescendo serves to accentuate the confusion present in wave two, and its peculiar multi-faceted nature. Illusion is juxtaposed to reality throughout the scenes depicted here. Despite "facts" or "reality" what is astutely revealed here is the emotional reality of an experience; the force of a traumatic psycho­ logically charged moment is perceived differently by each individual. The illusions which result from delirium and 98

Agitation often reveal the unconscious desires of the characters. Both of the principal actors manifest a strong death wish; besides being doom-eager herself, Julie also "dreams of" her lover's death. The latter would not be difficult to justify viewed as a kind of retribution for Mme d'Etange*s death and Julie*s "seduction." After this dramatic, multi-faceted crescendo of emo­ tion, the lovers appear exhausted and stipped of their de­ fenses. In letter fifteen Julie admits "ma resistance est 6puisi5e," and she renews her vow of undying love for the hero: "Oui, tendre et g^n^reux amant, ta Julie sera toujours tienne, elle t'aimera; il te faut, je le veux, je le dois" (III,xv,314)• It is clear that the heroine cannot continue to bear the tension which her internal con­ flict is causing her. She expresses regret at having struggled against "des sentiments si chers et si legitimes," and she invokes nature in her behalf when she cries, "J*abjure les barbares vertus qui t*anlantissent" (III,xv,314). This letter barely conceals a desperate cry for help, and if the hero were an active, decisive man the novel would end here— he would act: confront her father or force her to go away with him. Instead of seizing the initiative while Julie is in a weak enough condition to comply with his wishes, Saint- Preux makes a tactical error in this his first letter to his mistress since part two. He continues to accept their untenable position as "normal": "Non,non, Julie si le sort cruel nous refuse le do.ux nom d* 4poux, rien ne peut nous 8ter celui d*amants fiddles; il sera la consolation de nos tristes jours, et nous 1*emportons au tombeau" (III,xvi,315). Saint-Preux has reconciled himself to the role of eternal lover, not husband.^ Still lucid despite his many setbacks, the hero touches the raw nerve of his mistress's conflict: "Tu as voulu concilier la tendresse filiale avec 1'indomptable amour; en te livrant a la fois a tous tes penchants, tu 99 lea confonds au lieu de les accorder, et deviens coupable h. force de vertu" (III,xvi,315). Saint-Freux realizes that Julie's inability to reconcile her conflict can only lead her to blame the one quality that she has consistently lauded: virtue. In addition, the hero must now face the real possibility of Julie's alliance with another. The strain proves to be too great for Saint-Freux and he makes still another error— this time a blunder. The hero selfishly suggests to his mistress that they disregard their ideals and join the rest of humanity who seem to manage well by pre­ tending to be virtuous: "Ecoute celui qui t'aime. Pourquoi voudrions-nous Stre plus sages nous seuls que tout le reste des hommes, et suivre avec une simplicity d'enfants de chimSriques vertus dont tout le monde parle et aue personne ne pratique?" (III,xvi,316). The hero’s foolhardy and des­ perate proposal is doomed to failure? the final blow is struck when he sophistically says: "En effet, disent-ils, un tort qui n'est que dans 1* opinion n ’est-il pas nul quand il est secret? Quel mal reqoit un mari d'une infidelity au' il ignore?" (III,xvl,316). Saint-Preux1 s experiences in Parisian society have corrupted his point of view; honesty, integrity and virtue cannot be relative, and sins of omission are still sins. Julie knows this well and so does the hero. The latter's defense of slipshod morality can be attributed to his desperate position and his general weakness. This, the moral nadir of the novel, immediately precedes its cli­ max. Julie d'Etange never answers this letter. Ambiguously, Claire's brief note explodes the new of Julie's marriage: "Votre amant n'est plus" (III,xvi,3l8). The "insyparable" has triumphed and will continue to protect her cousin as much as possible. The series of imperatives that Claire directs to her former preceptor ("rendezj1" "respectez," "ne lui ycrivez point," "attendez")underlines her determina— 100 tion to shield Julie by controlling Saint-Preux. Claire's letter resolves the second wave in an order that is sensible but superficial. In a crisis situation, as Julie's near­ death was, Claire will opt for artificial order; like the heroine, Claire displays a penchant for things to be "as they should be" no matter what the cost. The fact that Claire is not herself engaged in an internal struggle makes this type of resolution far less harmful to her than it is to the pro­ tagonist. Letter eighteen occupies a position of singular import­ ance and has long been considered a key to understanding the 12 work. After having undergone an initiation by fire to the world of feelings, Julie seeks refuge in a marriage of reason. This letter represents the entire third wave and has three major divisions. In the first part Julie retraces the vari­ ous stages of her love affair with Saint-Preux; in the sec­ ond, she recounts her marriage ceremony, and in the third, she formulates her personal profession of faith.^ The return to order at the end of wave two was artificial, but a status auo has been restored. Therefore, Juliets let­ ter begins from a more "normal" position. The heroine has had time to collect her thoughts, and she now must put her past in order. The Julie who writes this letter is an al­ tered person— thanks to the ritual of the marriage ceremony, she has experienced the catharsis that will enable her to begin anew. Prom the opening lines it is clear that her tone is different. Fully aware that her marriage has been "la plus importante occasion de ma vie," and that from now on she is embarked on a "nouvelle carrilre," Julie needs to recapit­ ulate what has happened to her. The power of the letter as a vehicle for confession is eloquently revealed in the heroine's pilgrim's progress. The positive qualities of reflection, objectivity and distance are revealed and it becomes quick­ ly apparent that some kind of metamorphoses has occurred. 101

More important is the conscious effort Julie makes to effect a deep inner change in herself. However briefly, she does succeed. The heroine's "il y a six ans..." reminds us that time plays a key role in the work;1^ there have been many temporal references and they will multiply with great rapidity as the conclusion approaches. When Julie recalls her love-at-first- sight encounter with Saint-Preux, she unwittingly evokes at the same time the star-crossed and eternal aspects of their 15 passion. ^ Her realization that "j'aimais dans vous moins ce que j'y voyais que ce que je croyais sentir en moi-m&me," only serves to reinforce the inexplicable bonds that exist between her and her former lover. At this moment the heroine has achieved an objectivity about herself and Saint-Preux that she will not attain again in the novel. Her tone re­ mains calm, reasoned and intellectual. The resigned and religious overtones of the letter give the rhythmic effect of a litany to Julie's recollections; she seems transfixed, still and unagitated for the first time. This same quiet- istic penchant of hers reappears with considerable force in later parts of the book. Julie's struggle for self-possession has been a con­ scious one. She admits to Saint-Preux that she did wish for his deaths "Je tombai dans une sorte de desespoir; j'aurais mieux aim£ que vous ne fussiez plus que de n'8tre point a moi: j*en vins jusqu' £, souhaiter votre mort, jusqu'l. vous la demander" (III,xviii,320-321). In contrast, when Julie first mentions Wolmar, she stresses the long friend­ ship he has had with her father, his high birth and former wealth. Almost impersonally she notes* "Mon destin voulut que je plusse a M. de Wolmar, qui n'avait jamais rien aimi" (III,xviii,321). On the emotional plane Wolmar came to his wife a virgin. The juxtaposition between Saint-Preux and Wolmar is quickly established: the former has caused the 102 heroine humiliation, sorrow and pain, whereas the latter offers the hope of regaining innocence and attaining peace. Because she realizes that honesty is a necessity for her, for the first time Julie confesses to Saint-Preux the plan she had formulated to become pregnant in the hope of forcing her father to allow her to marry her tutor. For the first time the hero learns of Julie's miscarriage; however, she is careful not to mention the physical brutality of the baron d'Etange which caused it. Julie's use of "le ciel," "le sort," and "la destin^e" throughout the opening pages of this letter betray her feel­ ing of having been overwhelmed by outside forces. These words serve to accent her lack of self-determination. The letter begins the ascent of the wave when Julie expresses her remorse over her past errors; at the same time, she tries to reassure Saint-Preux of the wisdom of her choice to marry Wolmar. The heroine equates this choice with her love of virtue and her return to it. A simple recapitulation is not all that is accomplished in the first part of the letters Julie exposes aspects a'f the plot which have been unknown to the reader until now. She describes how her maid, Babi, betrayed her by averting Mme d'Etange about the hidden love letters; she also details a confrontation with her father in which she refused to marry Wolmar. A number of heretofore unknown quantities are brought together through this technique of intermingling new and old information. The effect of this technique is to synthesize the first three books, the first half, of the novel. The protagonist*s lucidity about her past actions and motivations reveals a maturity that had not been previously apparent. She even displays an awareness of her tendency to psychosomatic illnesses! "Vous le savez, mon ami, ma sant€, si robuste contre la fatigue et les injures de l'air, 103 ne peut rlsister aux intemplries des passions, et c'est dans mon trop sensible coeur qu'est la source de tous les maux et de mon corps et de mon ame"(III,xviii,330). This pre-Freudian, candid admission of the realization between her physical well-being and her state of mind provides us with a hey to the denouement of the novel. Julie de Wolmar finally addresses herself to the only ignoble letter her lover has ever sent her (III,xvii). At first, tempted by Saint-Preux's suggestion, Julie then became overwhelmed with horror at the realization of the extent of her own corruption. Frightened by the image of a relapse, the heroine hhd to muster all her forces to combat the desire to succumb again. Although she does not now condone their love affair, she feels that they were not so much "corrompus qu'avilis;" she believes that any continuation of their past conduct could only plunge them irretrievable into an abyBs of degradation. She asks him: Que font maintenant ces amants si tendres, qui brftlaient d'une flamme si pure, qui sentaient si bien le prix de l'honnltetl? Qui 1*apprendra sans glmir sur eux? Les voill. livrls au crime. L'idle mime de souiller le lit conjugal ne leur fait plus d'horreur... ils mlditent des adulteres.' Leurs ames n'ont-elles point changl? (Ill,xviii,331-332) Haunted by the loss of innocence, and frightened by the specter of decadence, Julie submitted to her father's will which represented both punishment and panacea. The crescendo of the third wave coincides with the climax of the novel: the wedding ceremony. (I use the word "climax" here in the traditional sense that the course the novel takes and the fate of its characters are determined by what occurs at this point: Julie's marriage. As in classical tragedy, the culminating point is reached at about the center of the work.) As the heroine prepares to unite her life with that of an almost total stranger, she exper­ 104

iences an inner terror of tragic magnitude. Because of her guilt, Julie sees herself as the sacrifice at the ritual: "Dans 1' instant mSme oil j'^tais prSte a, jurer a un autre une 6temelle fid€lit£, mon coeur vous jurait encore un amour 6temel, et je fus menSe au temple comme une victime impure qui souille le sacrifice ou 1*on va l1 immoler" (III,xviii,332). Upon entering the church Julie's panic increases until she feels on the brink of collapse. The august setting, and the solemnity of the vow she is about to take deeply affect her. For the heroine, the minister represents the will of God and seems to be speaking His words. Overcome by the gravity of the occasion, she realizes that her vow of fidelity cannot contain the slightest hint of hesitation or misgiving. In this way, the marriage ceremony suddenly becomes the instrument of Julie's purification: a kind of baptism and communion in one. By honestly giving her oath, the heroine is relieved of the guilt and pain that have tortured her for nearly six years. The beneficent effects of her personal spiritual revelation are immediate: La puret6, la dignity, la saintet<5 du mariage, si vivement exposfies dans les paroles de l'Ecriture, ses chastes et sublimes devoirs si importants au bonheur, a l'ordre, a la paix, a la dur£e du genre humain, si doux a remplir pour eux-m8mes; tout cela me fit une telle impression, que je crus sentir int€rieurement une revolution subite. Une puissance inconnue sembla corriger tout & coup les d£sordres de mes affections et les r£tablir selon la loi du devoir de la nature. (III,xvdii,333) The catharsis that Julie undergoes here has often been inter- preted as the receiving of God’s grace. Given the Protestant, and especially Calvinist, background in which the novel un­ folds this conclusion is quite valid. What does become appar­ ent is that the "revolution subite" which the heroine experi­ ences is a deeply felt spiritual moment that affects her pro­ foundly. For the first time since her liaison with her tutor began, Julie can envisage her own redemption. The trauma of her mother's death and her own violent illness are at once 105 transcended through the sacrament of marriage. While the heroine does not become a mystic, it is clear that for her the path of salvation must include a sublimation of her libidinous drives into a personal religious ethic that will allow her to function as a useful member of society. Just as "1'homrae actuel" cannot hope to regain the state of "l'homme originel," Julie cannot recapture her lost inno­ cence. Only through a conscious effort of reason and will, will she be able to attain a state that approximates, how­ ever vaguely, her original purity. Julie declares that she felt "r§ellement changle" after the ceremony. This is inexact: in Rousseau, as in Plato, it is not a question of "changing" but rather of "emerging." The heroine's innate love of virtue surfaces here, but it could not appear if it were not already there. This be­ comes clear when she exclaims: Quel torrent de pure joie vint alors inonder mon 3me! Quel sentiment de paix, effac^ depuis si longtemps, vint ranimer ce coeur fl£tri par l'ignominie, et rlpandre dans tout mon §tre une s6renit6 nouvelle! Je crus me sentir renaitre; je crus recommencer une autre vie. Douce et consolante vertu, je la recommence pour toi; c'est toi qui me la rendras chlre; c'est a toi que je la veux consacrer. Ah! j'ai trop appris ce qu*il en cofite a te perdre pour t'abandonner une seconde fois! (Ill,xviii,334) The Platonic influence in the novel emerges with dramatic force at this crucial moment: the verbs "ranimer", "recommencer," "renaitre" and "rendre" serve to underline the Platonic notions expressed by the heroine. An entire page (335) of rhetorical questions transmits Julie's wonder at having been delivered from her anguish. In thanksgiving she prostrates herself and vows to keep her sacred vows: Je veux Stre fidlle, parce que c’est le premier devoir qui lie la famille et toute la soci^tl. Je veux 8tre chaste, parce que c'est la premilre vertu qui nourrit toutes les autres. Je veux tout ce qui se rapporte a l'ordre que tu as 6tabli, et aux rlgles de la raison que je tiens de toi. (Ill, xviii,336) 106

The repetition of " je veux" reveals Julie's determination to remain "fiddle" and "chaste," and to return to "l'ordre de la nature." A distinction appears here between the "order of nature" and "passion" that is of prime importance in deciphering Rousseau's work. Oddly enough, the man who opened the flood-gates of passion on Western literature, did not believe passion was "natural." On the contrary, all passions are viewed as the worst and most debilitating 17 manifestations of a corrupt society. ' Julie tells her former lover: "...les affections d€sordonn€es corrompent le jugement ainsi que la volont€" (III,xviii,337). Greed, envy, hate, vanity, ambition and passionate love all occupy the same level in Rousseau's Hell. Julie realizes that the "folie a deux" she shared with Saint-Preux would have ultimately led to her destruction; only by renouncing this egotistical liaison and by practic­ ing the precepts of morality she was taught as a child can she hope to find inner peace. As Julie views it, peace and happiness are only attainable when order reign: "De la consideration de l'ordre je tire la beautd de la vertu, et sa bonte de l'utilitl commune" (III,xviii,337). In one brief sentence the heroine has assembled the phrases which constitute the foundation upon which the novel is constructed: "ordre," "beaut5," "vertu," "bont6" and "utility" comprise the principal preoccupations of La Nouvelle H£lolse, of Rousseau's entire oeuvre, and of the foremost writers of the eighteenth century. Julie's creator endowed these words with renewed-and vital significance in his novel. In many respects La Nouvelle H^lolse remains an inquiry into the relationships among these terms, and an attempt to reconcile them with the exigencies of daily life. The spiritual (vertu, bontl), the esthetic (beaut6) and the practical (ordre, utility) are combined in La Nouvelle Hgloise in an effort to build a society in which life becomes rewarding 107

and uplifting. The notions of utopia and "el dorado" flourished during this century and Rousseau's hook offers one manifestation of their popularity in Clarens. The protagonist’s Platonic tone prepares the way for the course the novel will take from this point on; she declares: "Enfin, que le caractlre et 1'amour du heau soit empreint par la nature au fond de mon ame, j'aurai ma rlgle aussi longtemps qu1 il ne sera point d€figur6" (III, xviii,337). The descent from the crest of this wave be­ gins as the heroine enumerates the disorder that adulterous relationships cause. She attacks the sophistic reasoning of "vos philosophes" whom she considers to be nothing more than the "apologistes du crime." In her defense of marriage Julie stresses not only its sacramental side but also its contractual aspects: "Quoi done! ce n'est pas un mal de manquer de foi, d'anSantir autant qu'il est en soi la force du serment et des contrats les plus inviolables?". (Ill,xviii,338). For this reason Julie opposes secret adultery as well as secret marriages: in order to respect and inspire respect for the conjugal state a public ceremony 1 ft is essential. If a marriage remains secret the possibili­ ty of arousing "innocent" adulterous feelings in another becomes a real risk. Dishonesty breeds disorder. It is apparent that when Julie speaks to Saint-Preux of "vos IQ philosophes she is addressing the hero himself; she is also enumerating the evils of adultery before the hero has a chance to broach the subject. Julie speaks of the "fausset^s," the "mensonges," the "fourberies" and the "mauvais commerce" involved in deceiving a husband. The harm created by this bad example can be irreparable. Julie's imagined remorse over and imagined adultery causes such revulsion in her that she exhorts her former lover to sacri­ fice his feeling on the altar of order and virtue: "Tel est, mon ami, le sacrifice h^rolque auquel nous sommes tous deux 108 appel€s" (III,xviii,342). To support her arguments, Julie cleverly quotes a part of one of the hero's own letters to him (I,xxiv), she reminds him that he once told her that love cannot survive without honesty and esteem: "Otez l'id6e de la perfection, vous otez 1'enthousiame; Stez l'estime, et 1'amour n'est plus rien" (III,xviii,343)• In a Princesse de Cloves manner, the heroine avows, "pour nous aimer toujours il faut renoncer l'un a 1' autre" {III,xviii,343) .^ Julie asks Saint-Preux to he "l'amant de mon ame." Despite the reasoned restraint of this letter, Julie cannot pre­ vent herself from renewing her vow of love: "Je vous aime toujours, n'en doutez pas." However her sincere determina­ tion to begin anew and to he a faithful companion to Wolmar takes precedence over her past errors. In this way, wave three resolves itself in virtuous order. Julie has under­ gone a fundamentally traumatic experience that is eaual in intensity to those in which she lost her innocence and her mother. The cleansing of her soul through sacred ritual has renewed her strength; Julie's will to maintain her pre­ sent state of purity is revealed throughout the entire let­ ter. The fourth and final wave of part three begins from a status quo position: Saint-Preux's tone in his reply has also momentarily altered. The heroine has excited in her former lover the desire to imitate her noble example. More than ever he feels certain that she is a woman worthy of admiration by all. His use of paradox to describe his dis­ covery remains particularly effective: "H^las! c'est en vous perdant que je vous ai retrouvde" (lll,xix,345). Unable to sustain this Cornelian tone for more than a few paragraphs, Saint-Preux soon allows his anger over Julie's betrayal of their love to surface. Ironically, after her long missive on fidelity, he hurls the epithet, "infid&le," at his former mistress. He unabashedly informs her that 109

'•Vous avez fait, en formant d'autres noeuds, un crime que 1*amour ni l'honneur peut-Stre ne pardonne point" (III, xix,346). Still lucid in spite of his anger, Saint-Preux asks Julie to answer the only question her letter of self­ justification never touched upon: "Julie, §tes~vous heureuse?" (III,xix,346). The heroine had asked his per­ mission to confess her affair with her tutor to Wolmar. With delicate reasoning he advises her against such an avowal: "S'il est digne de cet aveu, son Sme sera contrist4e, et vous l'aurez affligS sans raison. S'il n'en est pas digne pourquoi voulez-vous donner un pr£texte a ses torts envers vous?" (lll,xix,347). Wolmar remains an unknown quantity to the hero and Julie's wellrfbeing is uppermost in. his thoughts at this moment. Clarification ahout the mysterious Wolmar follows immediately in Julie's reply. After having rather ambig­ uously declared "j'avoue que je ne saurais §tre heureuse si vous cessiez de m'aimer," Julie describes her new husband to her former lover. Wolmar seems to be everything that Saint-Preux is not: mature, calm, moderate, content and cold. The Russian nobleman represents the image of modera­ tion and balance in the novel. He does, however, share one quality with his predecessor— his taste for observation: he is passive. Julie perceives her husband's penchant for order as a reflection of both universal harmony and of his own inner calm; she says: "L'ordre qu'il a mis dans sa maison est 1*image de celui qui regne au fond de son ame, et serable imiter dans un petit manage l'ordre 4tabli dans le gouvemement du raonde" (III,xx,350-351). It is clear that Julie's affective about-face is due to her desire to be no longer tormented by her passion: in this regard, the passionless Wolmar offers the perfect haven to the heroine. As Julie describes it, marriage and love are often in­ compatible, and a perfectly happy alliance can be achieved 110

without the latter*s presences L*amour est accorapagnl d'une inquietude continuelle de jalousie ou de privation, peu convenable au mariage, qui est un Itat de jouissance et de paix. On ne s'lpouse point pour penser uniquement l'un & 1*autre, mais pour remplir conjointeraent les devoirs de la vie civile, gouverner prudemment la maison, bien llever ses enfants. Les amants ne voient jamais qu* eux, ne s'occupeht incessamment aue d'eux, et la seule chose qu*ils sachent faire est de s'aimer. (Ill, xx,351) The heroine* s black and white view of love and marriage seems calculated to protect her recently regained peace of mind. By stressing the civic responsibilities of marriage, she chooses to ignore the emotional and sexual obligations that she and Wolmar have to one another. Oddly enough, their marriage is not unlike the ones Saint-Preux deplored so much in Paris. While fidelity and mutual respect are important to both Julie and Wolmar, their arranged alliance is based on socio-economic considerations and is aimed at preserving the status quo. A further rationalization of her marriage appears in Julie's declaration that time and boredom, the eternal enemies of passion, would have eventually extinguished their love for each other. It never seems to occur to the sermonizing heroine that both she and Saint-Preux are still in the bloom of youth, neither declining nor old; they have not been, and never will be, afforded the luxury of becoming bored with one another. The series of defense mechanisms that the hero­ ine has evolved to still her and Saint-Preux* s passion culmin­ ates in a curious Princesse de Olives kind of statement: the hero must abandon all hope that Julie will ever be his. Even if Wolmar were to die, she would never consider remarriage. Julie's logic in this matter betrays her strong feelings: "Si pour me punir de mes fautes, le ciel m*Stait le digne Ipoux que j'ai si peu mdritd, ma ferme resolution est de n*en prendre jamais un autre. S'il n'a pas eu le bonheur de trouver une fille chaste, il laissera du moins une chaste veuve" (III,xx,353). The heroine becomes unnecessarily cruel Ill here. And despite all her statements of renunciation, she still refuses to let go totally of her link with Saint-Preux. Although Julie informs him that this will be her last letter, instead of breaking off all communication with the hero, she suggests that he write to Claire "dans les occasions ou vous aurez auelque SvSnement intSresaant a nous apprendre" (III, xx,355). The protagonist's reluctance to sever all ties with her former lover is an unconscious indication of her now buried need for contact with him. After having encouraged Saint-Preux to seek happiness and to love virtue, Julie dis­ appears from book three. The realization of his loss plunges the hero into a black depression in which he contemplates suicide. Several conscious and unconscious threats or attempts at suicide have already been noted above. The dialogue that Saiitit-Preux opens with Milord Edouard in letter twenty-one continues the preoccupation that the two principal players have with "la mort volontaire". Among the most famous letters in La Nouvelle H^loise, Saint-Preux's eloquent defense of self- — ' ' ' ' 21 inflicted death captivated his eighteenth-century readers. This letter marks the crescendo of the fourth wave which is appropriately the final one of book three: Julie's marriage formed the preceding crescendo and the desperate solitude to which her alliance has condemned the hero is reflected in the emotional peak of the last wave. Saint-Preux's despair is juxtaposed with Julie's newly found peace. As the hero envisages it, the fundamental auestion confronting the person who is contemplating suicide is how to "chercher son bien et fuir son mal en ce qui n'offense point autrui, c'est le droit de la nature" (III,xxi,357). While Christian dogma explicitly forbids the taking of one's own life, ancient thought contained no such taboo. Not surprisingly, Saint-Preux's most convincing examples of noble suicides are drawn from Greek and Roman antiquity: 112

Socrates, Cato, Brutus and Cassius; he even lists some celebrated women who chose this form

than the fear of death is one able to contemplate the idea of suicide. The hero has arrived at this juncture. Saint- Preux even views suicide as an honest option offered by God to man's anguish. He says: "Dieu ne l'a _/T'homme7 point anim£ pour rester immobile dans un qui^tisme €ternel; mais il lui a donn£ la liberty pour faire le bien, la conscience pour le vouloir, et la raison pour le choisir" (III,xxi,363). The use of such positive words: "liberty," "conscience” and "raison" serves to underscore Saint-Preux's view of the salutary aspects of suicide. Just as Julie dis­ played her will to remain faithful to Wolmar, the hero ex­ hibits his determination to justify taking his own life. In this way, he removes suicide from a wholly religious realm and places it squarely in the province of reason. His words presage the solution to Julie's conflict: "Offrons a Dieu la mort qu' il nous impose par la voix de la raison, et versons paisiblement dans son sein notre ame nu’il redemande" (lll,xxi,365). Oddly enough, Saint-Preux does not seem con­ tent to die alone and so he invites Edouard to join him in a double suicide. The latter is undoubtedly a more dramatic gesture than a single death, but through this suggestion Saint-Preux is assuredly erecting an obstacle against tak­ ing his own life. Although Edouard has indicated that he too has suffered, the English lord seems hardly ready to renounce life at this moment. While Saint-Preux’s pain is not in question here, he does seem capable of going to ex­ tremes with everything; his enthusiasm for suicide proves to be no exception. Edouard takes up the role of father and mentor to his bewildered friend. He uses the "tu" throughout his reply which conveys a reprimanding rather than an intimate tone. While Edouard remains sympathetic to the hero's present sad­ ness, rather than encouraging his fafciend to sink deeper into his depression, Edouard adopts a firm, common sense tone. 114

He echoes Claire and Julie1 s earlier admonitions when he tells Saint-Preux to be a man. The Englishman bluntly be­ rates his friend1s weakness when he accuses him of wanting to die because he was unable to seduce an honest woman. To Edouard, the hero1s reasoning contains little nobility, and he caustically demands: "Homme petit et faible, qu1y a-t-il entre Caton et toi? Montre-moi la mesure commune de cette ame sublime et la tienne" (III,xxii,372). Despite his severe tone, Edouard tries to bolster his friend^ sagging spirits. He recommends to the hero that he pursue virtue and that he try to be of some use to mankind rather than wallowing in self-pity. Edouard reassures Saint-Preux that time will heal his pain: "Attends et tu seras gu£ri (III,xxii, 370). In the following letter Milord Edouard complains of the boredom of the English caurt and admits that "j^aime cent fois mieux partager votre m^lancholie cue 1*ennui des valets oui peuplent ce pays" (III,xxiii,374). He be­ lieves that an active life offers the solution to his friend^ depression, and he proposes an exciting project to bring him back to his senses. The hero, who always seems to be looking for someone to order him about, agrees to do anything that Edouard commands. And so letters twenty-five and twenty-six offer a resolution to the most recent wave of emotion. Time and distance, the two traditional cure-alls, will intervene in the love story. Saint-Preux is to embark for a three year trip around the world, after which the hero and his English friend plan to finish their days together. Worn out from his emotional ordeal, Saint-Preux writes a sad letter of leave-taking to Claire. The notion of a voyage and the romantic themes of adventure and of the un­ known are evoked in the closing letter of part three. Un­ like the preceding two books which ended with dramatically charged scenes, this one concludes with the dejected hero 115 bidding his sad good-byes to those he loves. Still hoping for death, Saint-Preux resserables Tristan floating out to sea for burial when he cries: "Mer vaste, mer immense, qui dois peut-etre m'engloutir dans ton sein, puiss^-je retrouver sur tes flots le calme qui fuit mon coeur agitS" (III,xxvi,377). The hero's watery grave symbolizes for him a union or a re­ union with the mother in death. He seeks calm in the "sein” of "la mer." While the return to order here possesses some overtones of superficiality, on the whole it represents a natural order. Julie is married; Saint-Preux must forget her, or at least try to find a new life for himself. The lovers' separation can no longer be artificial because they both understand the duties of Julie's new position. It is now in the natural order that they separate and attempt to begin anew. The images of part three which underline the major themes treated in it are disease, smallpox, Julie’s "dream" and the altar. Both heroes are physically marked forever by their love; the scars left by smallpox bear witness to their "malady." In the same way, Julie's delirium during her illness unveils not only her own death-wish but also her desire that Saint-Preux die too. The hero has a paral­ lel dream later in the novel. Because the marriage ceremony represents the climax of the work, the altar becomes a dramatic image of prime importance. The symbol of sacrifice, it appears ambiva­ lently as the personification of Julie* s sacred duty to family and to God, but ultimately it is the instrument of her own death. The real sacrifice is defered. La Nouvelle Hdloise has a tragic conclusion, and the preparation for the denouement is made well in advance. Julie will be the sacrifice then as she has been in book three. 116

FOOTNOTES

^Starobinski has noted that for Rousseau: "le raal est voile et voilement, il est masaue, il a partie li€e avec le factice, et il n ’existerait pas si l'homme n 1 avait la dangereuse liberty de nier, par 1' artifice, le donn£ natural." La Transparence etc. p. 34. 2 The guilt and anguish evoked by Julie's mother'is death can be linked to Rousseau's own overwhelming sense of loss, guilt and abandonment at the death of his mother. "J1ai cout£ la vie a ma mere en naissant," remains one of the most dramatically charged sentences in the Confessions.

•^All major Rousseau critics have noted his preference for maternal women.

^Very little was known about female sexuality until our own century. The dichotomy between sacred and profane love, between the virgin and the whore still exists. One of the primary difficulties in La Nouvelle Hgloise is Julie's lack of comprehension and inability to deal with her own sexuality. Rousseau's own misconceptions in this area could only compound his heroine's dilemma. A few works did touch upon the subject however, smong them are Diderot's La Religieuse and his Suite de 1' entretien entre d'Alembert et Dide'r'o't (Oeuvres, pp. *53*5-942), and in the Enjpyclop6die an article by Dr. d'Aumont entitled Fureur uterine. c ^This same idea of the change caused by time will reappear in Parts IV-'/1, and will form the basis of Wolmar's "cure."

^Smallpox with its accompanying high fevers and resulting deliriums becomes the "perfect" disease for the love-sick heroine. In addition it marks the flesh, a certain physi­ cal proof of physical decadance. It will be recalled that in Tristan and Iseult leprosy plays a similar role.

"^Double suicide is an active fantasy of both protagonists: Saint-Preux hopes for death here, whereas, in part one Julie vividly imagined herself and her lover murdered by her aveng­ ing father. When Saint-Preux threatened suicide at Meillerie, Julie responded by falling gravely ill and narrowly missing death. Q This same psychological phenomenon reappears nearly two hundred years later when Camus has Meursault say: "Tout les &tres sains avaient plus ou moins souhait6 la mort de ceux au' ils airaaient." L 1 Etranger (New York: Appleton- Century-Cro.fts,1955)» p .857 Meursault understands the con- 117 tingency which love causes. Julie's "dream" can be ex­ plained existentially as a way of preserving her individ­ uality, and psychologically as a survival mechanism.

^It is interesting to note that for Poe the most perfect subject of a poem was the death of a beautiful woman.

^ The convergence between the emotional and physical scars here again underscores the debilitating effects of passion.

^ I n his short novel, The Eternal Husbandt Dostoievski has created a similar character, the eternal lover, who opposes the protagonist throughout. The situation is different from that of La Nouvelle H^loise butrfche arche­ typal inferences are the same: fTolmar is a husband and Saint-Preux a lover. They do not break out of these roles. 12 Robert Mauzi in his article, "La Conversion de Julie dans La Nouvelle H ^ l o i s e has penetratingly traced the pivotal importance of letter eighteen AJJR,XXXV (1959-1962) 29-47. 1"3 The moral and religious convictions and commitments enunciated by the heroine will be re-echoed by the Vicaire in Emile.

■^One of the many innovations of La Nouvelle H^loise is that it is the first novel in which 1H!TTemps,,r^n d ^ rla durge" are of major importance. A recent and excellent study of all levels of time in the novel ("temps 6prouv£" "temps i n c o n s c i e n t " t e m p s refus€," "temps subi," "temps pr£vu," "temps revecu," "temps concu" etc.), is Francois Van Laere's Une Lecture du temps dans La Nouvelle Hfloise, (Neuchatel: ia Baconniere, 19£>7).

1 R * -%ne de Cleves and Romeo and Juliet offer two famous literary examples of tragic love-at-first-sight encounters. -I X* Mauzi mentions that after the wedding ceremony Julie is in a euphoric state that resembles a state of grace. AJJR. XXXV, p. 33. He also reminds us that in the "Preface dialoguee" Rousseau has N say: "Et cette conversion subite au temple?...La grace, sans doute?...Garnier, p. 739.

^Burgelin points out that in Rousseau: "Ce n 1 est done au'en apparence et provisoirement que la passion semble naturelle et bonne. Elle s*oppose, au fond, & 1'expansion normale du sujet en projetant hors de lui le moi fictif construit par 1' opinion. Si au contraire chacun accopte de rester fiddle au vrai dynamisme de la nature, il s' £tend sans se diviser, s'enrichit par ses lumilres en restant fidele a 1 1 8 soi et ainsi se d£passe. II devra consentir a se subordonner au tout oui 1*inclut, au principe universe! de l'ordre, en soi, dans le groupe et dans l'univers." La Philosophie de 1'existence, p. 259.

- i Q Pomeau reminds us that before the Revolution civil marriage did not exist and as a result clandestine marriage was common. Garnier, p. 339 note. 19 There may be an echo of time de Karens' accusations against her tutor, LI. de Tavel, here. Jean-Jacaues has stated in the Confessions about "maraan*s" preceptor: "M, de Tavel son premier amant fut son mattre de philosophie, et les principes ou'il lui donna furent ceux dont il avoit besoin pour la slduire." O.C., Vol. I, p. 198. 20 Burgelin points that the price of order for Julie is chastity. She realizes that "II faut r£int4grer 1'amour dans le mariage et le lier a la chastet4." La Philosophie de 1* existence« p. 376. p I Even Voltaire liked this letter. He wrote to the comte d'Argental: "Et le roman de Jean-Jacaues! A mon gr4 il est sot, bourgeois, impudent, ennuieux, mais il y a un morceau admirable sur le suicide oui donne app£tit de mourrir." Correspondance g^nlrale, ed. Bestermann, Vol 45, p. 88. 119

CHAPTER IV TEMPTATION Rousseau considered book four of La Nouvelle Hlloise to be his masterpiece. In the Confessions he candidly states: "Je mets sans crainte sa quatrieme partie a c6tl de la Princesse de Clives." Many writers have little critical objectivity about their own creations but in this case Rousseau's opinion has been justified. The delicacy, mastery and taste with which book four is written remain its essential dualities. At the height of his liter­ ary powers, Jean-Jacaues exercised great control and artist­ ry at this most crucial part of his novel. The psycho­ logical richness of La Nouvelle Hgloise is particularly manifest in this section. Emotions run the gamut from ennui and fear to sadness and intense passion. The tone modulates among these feelings until the tension mounts to the romantically vivid boatride on the lake. Just as there were a number of parallels between parts one and three, a symmetry exists between parts two and four: the reduction to four voices, Clarens as the symbol of virtue opposes Paris as the symbol of vice. Order is juxtaposed to disorder in an affective scene of great power, the "promenade en bateau," and the discovery of their letters at the conclusion of part two becomes reflected in the realization at the end of part four that their love has not waned. Other similarities will be discussed as they arise. The number, disposition, tone and movement of the let­ ters will all be examined in the manner established in pre­ ceding chapters in order to demonstrate the crucial role of order versus disorder and harmony versus desire in this part. It should be noted that the number of letters is again reduced from the earlier books to seventeen. The breakdown follows: from Julie to Claire 3 letters from Claire to Julie 4 letters 120

from Saint-Preux to Cl. 1 letter from Claire to S-P 1 letter from 3-P to Edouard 5 letters from Wolmar to S-P 1 letter from Wolmar to Claire 1 letter from Julie to Wolmar 1 letter Totals: Saint-Preux writes six letters, Julie four, Claire five, Wolmar two. Perhaps the most striking notation above is that for the first time no letters are exchanged between the lovers. Most of the information comes from Saint-Preux in his let­ ters to Edouard. The latter does-not appear at all here; he is only a receiver of the hero1 s news. For the first time Wolmar speaks for himself in the novel— as Julie's hus­ band he makes his formal "d£but." The heroine, now a wife and mother, writes only to Claire and a short note to her husband. Ironically, the silence between the lovers occurs in the section in which Julie and Saint-Preux must pass the supreme test of their relationship. The movement of the letters remains that of a wave-like motion; the diagram illustrating their course appears on the following page. Although this section of the book ex­ poses the idyllic Clarens and the beneficial effects of solitude and reflection, it also contains the most passion­ ate scene in the novel. As a result, the rise and fall motion of waves suits the variety of sensations described. The first letter, from Julie, contrasts with her last letters in part three: no longer a new bride, Julie now the mother of two children writes to Claire imploring her widow­ ed cousin to join her at Clarens. The heroine's letter re­ veals a number of conflicting emotions: she needs Claire there to talk to about her "odieux secret," which she has never confided to Wolmar. Julie lives in fear that at any moment she may confess the whole story to her husband. What is quickly detected here is Julie's ennui; her chagrin can best be characterized as a king of "mal du siecle."^ The protagonist's desire to discuss her stormy liaison with 121 AVES W V. A) B1 11 1) (B I I ) (A . IV . B) 9 (B4) I. H (4) 5 ) (B4 . n ( ) 2 ( 1; B) 4 ( ) 15 1) (B 14; (B4) 13; ) 4 (B 12; 1) (B . V I. I. Sau quo Status . A 2. R eproaches eproaches R 2. B . 1. F e a r r a e F 1. . B B**)!; ! (B1*2*3) . eassurances R 4. 3. 3. i u n n E B) 3 (B4) . Crescendo C. C) 0 E2 10 2) (E 4 1) (E 4 1) 10 (D ) (C (C)6 3 (C) (C) 17 (D 2) 16 (E 1) 17 1) (E 11 x» 2) (E 16 2) (D 11 1) (D 17 (C) 11 (C) . . r l tro n o C 1. D. D- 3 7 E4)8 4 (E 7 3) (D*-> 2. Reproaches Reproaches 2. 3. F e a r r a e F 3. 4. 4. . Order E. . Sensible 4. . ruous u o irtu V 2. . ur l ra tu a N 3. l ia rfic e p u S 1. E n n u i i u n n E 122

Saint-Preux betrays a need for the vicarious thrill she will feel'in doing so. Speaking of her former lover Julie exclaims with barely disguised longing: "Comme il savait aimer!" (Iv,i,384). The heroine uses her children much as she used the other characters in prior sections; they offer her protection from her inner desires, "Ils chassent de mon esprit 1'id£e meme de mes anciennes fautes. Leur innocence est la sauvegarde de la mienne" (IV,i,384). After so many y^arsJulie still feels guilt about her lover, and once again tells Claire of her presentiment that Saint- Preux has surely perished in the course of his long voyage. The only guilt Julie could reasonably feel now, and which she cannot face, is the guilt which her buried desires cause her. Motherhood has not satisfied the heroine and the denouement of part four is prepared in its initial letter. As ever, Julie reproaches her cousin.for her delay in coming to Clarens, and once again urges Claire to hurry "Viens done, ma bien-aim£e, mon ange tut£laire, viens conserver ton ouvrage, viens jouir de tes bienfaits" (IV,1,386). Claire's response is light-hearted and slightly chiding, she calls her cousin "charmante precheuse" and suggests that her daughter, Henriette, marry Julie's oldest son. After all of the problems caused by arranged marriages one would think that Claire would be more cautious. Claire makes the ■unexpected revelation that in truth she never really wanted to marry but that "dans notre sexeon n'achete la liberty aue par l'esclavage; et il faut commencer par etre servante pour devenir sa maitresse un jour" (lV,ii,389)Claire now voices the same vow that Julie had made earlier to Saint- Preux: she does not intend to marry again even though she has been widowed at a very young age. In his efforts to reha­ bilitate marriage Rousseau seems to fall short here: in both of the marriages of reason the partners vow never to remarry if and when their husbands die. The superficial excuse is 123 fidelity to the dead spouse, but in a deeper sense it is obvious that both women prefer their freedom to another such alliance. While freedom does not exclude order, it does take precedence here. Claire also advises Julie against the confession of her love affair and she reassures her cousin that she will join her as soon as possible. These two rather low-key letters introduce the first crescendo of emotion which is a veritable "coup de theatre," the Racinian return of one thought dead, Saint-Preux. The hero, home from "les exlsremitls de la terre," writes to Claire to tell her of his adventures and that he has dis­ covered that "on a beau fuir ce oui nous est cher, son' image, plus vite que la mer et les vents, nous suit au bout de I1 univers; et partout ou 1'on se porte, avec soi l'on y porte ce aui nous fait vivre" (IV,iii,393). Julie on another plane had expressed the same thought in the first letter of this section without being aware of it. Among the exotic list of names and places Saint-Preux has seen, he stresses the beauty of the deserted areas which seem to him like asylums of innocence. Thus, even the trip around the world prepares the solitude and innocence which Clarens represents. The message clearly reads that one does not have to travel the seven seas to find peace and innocence. While Saint-Preux has made this realization, Julie has not. The heroine still deludes herself that she is happy; Saint-Preux knows that he is only happy when he is near Julie and that he will never be content far from his former mistress. The hero's voyage and experiences have only served to reinforce his feelings of alienation: "Ne suis-je pas d£sormais partout en exil?" (IV,iii,396). In spite of the many wonders he has seen, Saint-Preux has come to the conclusion that nothing compares with his friends, Julie and Claire, nor with the enchanted Clarens. Claire's response includes a note from Wolmar and a 124 post scriptum from the heroine. Julie has finally relieved her conscience and confiddd her"secret" to Wolmar. In a daring and on the surface incomprehensible gesture, Wolmar invites Saint-Preux to come to Clarens and to accept his hospitality. And if Wolmar's invitation were not enough, Julie's two line P.S. surely seals the hero's decision. In her usual controlling manner Mme de Wolmar refuses a negative response in advance: "Venez, mon ami; nous vous attendons avec empressement. Je n'aurai pas la douleur que vous nous deviez un refus" {IV,iv, 398). Letter four represents the desire of both Wolmar and Julie to control the hero. It also becomes the resolution of the wave in that it aims for super­ ficial order. Wolmar wants Saint-Preux to join them for his own peculiar reasons; in spite of statements from both of the lovers that they are "cured" Wolmar has planned his own "cure." While Julie's husband is painted as anything but a romantic figure after he marries (there is a certain mysteri­ ous and adventurous aura about his life before Clarens), he may also be suffering from the same ennui that his wife is experiencing. As a being governed by reason his reactions would necessarily differ from those of his wife, wolmar needs cerebral stimulation and Saint-Preux offers the per­ fect subject for experimentation. Unfortunately, his wife will also play a central role in his scheme. In the eighteenth century Wolmar’s imprudent invitation to Saint-Preux caused a shock wave of outrage. How foolhardy for a man in his fifties to invite openly his wife’s former lover (a much younger, volatile and romantic figure), to come to live with them. In truth, Wolmar's plan is a brilliant c one; it just does not work. He feels that Julie and Saint- Preux love each other in the past, that Saint-Preux worships Julie d'Etange. Presumably Julie and her former lover have changed in the intervening years, and therefore according to Wolmar, if they confront one another in situations that evoke those in which they were lovers, they will realize that their 125 love no longer exists. On the contrary, the only hope the lovers had of being delivered from their tragic destiny was never to have seen each other again. iVolraar1 s method sets in motion the infernal machine that will destroy his wife. As detached as Wolmar may appear, his actions in this re­ gard barely mask a certain mental cruelty and most likely his own uncertainty over his ability to meet his wife* s emotional and sexual needs. Wave two begins with Claire's letter of reassurance to the hero: she tells him that everyone desire to see him. Al­ though the "inseparable one" knows about Wolmar1 s plan she remains much more skeptical about its outcome than the others. She adopts a light-hearted attitude toward all these machi­ nations but she foreshadows the heroine's dilemma when she innocently says: "Ce au' il y a du moins de bien sur, c'est aue je n'ai point chang6 pour vous, et que vous feriez bien des fois le tour du monde avant d'y trouver quelqu'un qui vous aimat comme moi" (IV,v,399). The hero's letter to Milord Edouard describing his trip and reception at Clarens marks the crescendo of the second wave. Nervous, troubled and full of anticipation, the hero approaches Clarens with mixed feel- 7 ings. He tells his friend: "Maintenant j'allais voir Julie marine, Julie mere, Julie indiff£rente. Je m'inqui^tais des changements aue huit ans d* intervalle avaient pu faire & sa beaut6" (IV,vi,40l). Eternally the lover, he is of course preoccupied with his mistress's appearance. The very sight of the mountain peaks causes a rush of sensual memories in Saint-Preux and he admits that the world has always been divided into two parts for him: "celle ou elle est, et celle ou elle n'est pas" (IV,vi,40l). The hero actually experiences an intense attack of anxiety on his way to Clarens. His loss of breath and general edginess cause him to stop at an inn where he can neither eat nor drink. The tumultuous state that only the recollection of his passion has effected in him in­ 126 dicates the force of this "dead" love. As their reunion betrays, for both Julie and Saint-Preux their love has been lying dormant and will burst forth with renewed"■ energy. As usual, Julie acts first and spontaneously. The rhythm of the sentences themselves conveys her delight: "A peine Julie m'eut-elle aperqu qu'elle me reconnut. A 1'instant, me voir, s'Verier, courir, s'^lancer dans mes bras, ne fut pour elle ou1 une meme chose" (IV,vi,402). Prom this warm and spontaneous reception Saint-Preux draws strength; aware of Julie's body entwined with his once more, the hero is transported: Je puise dans ses bras la chaleur et la vie; je p^tille de joie en la serrant dans les miens. Un transport sacr£ nous tient dans un long silence 6troitement embrass^s, et ce n'est qu' apres un si doux saisissement que nos voix commencent a se confondre et nos yeux a m§ler leurs pleurs. (IV, vi,402-403) The reunion which the lovers experience, the "transport sacr£" and the "long silence" underline the act of coming together again— of the androgynous nature of their liaison: the Platonic notion of two souls that complete each other is revealed here. No longer mutilated by separation, they derive both a spirit­ ual and physical pleasure from their embrace. It is hardly a scene to reassure any husband, but Wolmar seems unperturbed by it. On the contrary he says that he wants them all to be able to discuss everything openly. The idea itself causes some embarrassment to the hero who cannot auite envisage that much candor. However, the paternal Wolmar has little difficulty swaying the easily led hero. Saint-Preux remarks: "M. de Wolmar commentjait a prendre une si grande autorit£ sur moi, aue j'y 5tais d£ja presque accoutuml" (IV,vi,407). The hero happily notes that Julie’s beauty has not faded in the least, and if anything she is "plus brillante que jamais." Upon meeting Julie's children the hero begins to feel the altered reality of his love's station; a change has occurred, " je connus qu'elle ou moi nations plus les mSmes." 127

All of Saint-Preux's former feelings of tension and exhila­ ration belie this last statement. In fact, they are no long­ er the same as they were before Julie married but their deep­ est feelings for one another have not altered. Both Julie and Saint-Preux are depicted as honest, noble and unique beings, therefore their struggle to avoid any action that would dis­ honor either of them will become all the more poignant. Julie recounts her reactions to Saint-Preux's return in the following letter to Claire. The heroine too feels that they have both changed and that " je l'aime aussi tendrement que jamais, sans 1'aimer de la m§me maniere" (IV,vii,408). However, as she continues to describe the physical and emotion­ al changes she feels have taken place in her former lover, the heroine reveals an acute interest in all that pertains to him. Julie's letter is a curious blend of renewed avowals of her tenderness for Saint-Preux, and reiterations of her "changed" feelings in regard to him. She is afraid and this becomes quite obvious when she says that she asked Wolmar to read her letter to Claire, and when she indicates a desire to take her husband as her confidant. Always busy erecting "sauvegardes" between herself and her innter desires, Julie once again is steeling herself against these very desires. Wolmar astutely refuses both offers, and he preaches a little sermon of his own about the necessity of distinguishing be­ tween the demands of the state of marriage and the need for shared confidences between friends. Claire's level response resolves the second wave in an order based on common sense. She lightly mocks Julie's two proposals concerning V/olmar and cleverly remarks that it is fortunate that Wolmar declined reading his wife's letter be­ cause "M. de V/olmar aurait'd'abord remarau! que ta lettre entiSre est employee parler de notre ami, et n*aurait point vu 1'apostille ou tu n'en dis pas un mot" (IV,vii,414). Claire becomes particularly worried over what she calls the affectionate and tender tone Julie still uses when discuss­ ing Saint-Preux. Referring to Wolmar*s possible reaction to 128 his wife's missive Claire summarizes: "En g6n£ral, ta lettre fitait tres propre a.lui donner beaucoup de confiance en ta conduite et beaucoup d' inquietude sur ton penchant" (IV,viii,415). Never one to rationalize or intellectualize her intuitions, Claire figuratively hits the nail on the head. In spite of her sober view of Julie's present situa­ tion, Claire adds commic relief which is a welcome note in this most serious work. She teases her cousin about her new "esclave" and in an amusing postscript asks if Saint- Preux smokes, swears, drinks, carries a sword or has any other peculiarities of those who have just returned from the ends of the earth. The same easy going manner characterizes the beginning of wave three. In the interim, Saint-Preux has gone to visit "1' inseparable" to help her put her affairs in order so that she can rejoin Julie at Clarens. Claire in turn gives her cousin her own impressions of their former teacher; the circle of reactions and commentary closes with Claire's let­ ter. According to her— and she like Wolmar and Julie has scrutinized the hero's manners, behavior and feelings for Julie— age and experience have made Saint-Preux more at­ tractive than he was before. In this way, both Julie and Saint-Preux have increased in appeal since their separation. Claire admits that she does not know him completely. She says: "Je 1'ai bien ouestionnS, bien observe, bien suivi; je 1'ai examine autant ou' il m'est 6tait possible: je ne puis bien lire dans son ame, il n'y lit pas mieux lui-m§me" (IV,ix,4l8). The latter statement would seem to indicate that Claire has an intuition that Saint-Preux (like Julie) has succeeded in masking his feelings even to himself. If he allowed his hidden desires to become conscious ones, he would in all honor feel contrained to leave Clarens immediately. After his long exile, it would cause him great emotional hardship to do this. As a result, he represses his sexual 129

feeling for Julie whose position as mother and wife has only enhanced her attractiveness: she is more than ever the one Q who is forbidden. The repression and sublimation of the hero's desires build to a crescendo in letter ten in which he recounts to Edouard the order and harmony that reign in Julie and Wolmar*s utopia. Among the longer letters in La Nouvelle H^lolse, this one on the domestic economy of Clarens is strategically placed at approximately the center of part four. In any case, it makes up the third in the series of five waves that comprise this section. Letter ten can be juxtaposed with the letters of criticism of Paris in part two. Clarens is the model; it represents all that Paris is not: simplicity, harmony, order and virtue. It is not difficult to understand Saint-Preux* s exalted state of mind in letter ten— this same missive can also be grouped with the Valais letter in part one. A very strong reason for the hero* s appreciation of life at Clarens is that life on the estate eouals proximity to his idol. If 3.aint-Preux can preserve his peace of mind, if he can be­ come a useful part of the community, if he can maintain his roll of son without letting his "incestuous" desires sur- g face— then he will be able to stay in paradise. This let­ ter also reveals another aspect of the passionate soul: a longing for repose. His travels and his emotional experi­ ences have added to the hero's need for eouilibrium; it is not just women who desire balance in their lives, as Julie and Claire do, but men too reouire harmony to be productive. There is little doubt that Saint-Preux sincerely enjoys his ordered life at Clarens and that were he not ultimately in a situation of unbearable tension, as is Julie, it would be an ideal refuge from the world and the worldliness that he has come to despise. 10 Clarens with its melodious name symbolizes all that is positive in La Houvelle H^lozse. It is the other side of the 130

coin: vice/virtue, disorder/order, hypocrisy/honesty. Saint- Preux' s opening invocation to Edouard admirably sets the stage: La douce chose de couler ses jours dans le sein d'une tranquille amitiS, a l'abri de 1' orage des passions impStueuses.' Milord que c'est un spectacle agr^able et touchant, que celui d'une maison simple et bien regime ou rlgnent 1'ordre, la paix, 1' innocence; ou 1'on voit r£uni sans appareil, sans €clat, tout ce aui r£pond la veritable destination de l'homme. (IVjX»422) In the organization of their home and their estate Julie and Wolmar have taken every precaution to unite the agreeable with the useful, to combine taste with simplicity, to banish all opulence or luxury and to maintain a high degree of self- sufficiency. With few exception they produce all that they need to survive comfortably. They cultivate their lands and in doing so furnish employment for many workers in the area. Because of his observations of the negative relationships between servant and master in Paris, Saint-Preux remains especially impressed with the mutual respect that exists be­ tween the two groups at Clarens. At the center of this idyl­ lic existence, Julie plays the role of mother to all: "Ouvriers, domestiques, tous ceux qui 1' ont servie, ne fftt-ce que pour un seul jour, deviennent tous ses enfants" (IV,x,426). One reason why all of the servants are faith­ ful and honest is that they never are idle, another is the constant good example they receive from their masters. As the guardian of morality at Clarens.*, Julie has deemed it necessary to separate the sexes: "Les liaisons trop intimes entre les deux sexes ne produisent jamais que du mal" (IV, x,43l). The combination of Julie's Puritanism and her own self-denial have caused her to "visit" her suffering on her "children," the servants. The paternalistic attitude of the Wolmars toward their domestics is consistently painted as being embraced without difficulty by the servants. Julie's definition of order invariably involves control of others. 131

She manipulates Saint-Preux for the entire novel in the seine way that she dominates all those who come into contact with her. In her defense, the hero is quick to point out that everyone, except the French, find that division of the sexes is important for effective control of any society.^ Part of the Sunday evening ritual at Clarens is the withdrawal of the women and children to the "gyn4c£e" where they sing and play games and partake of a collation made up* exclusively of sweets and dairy products. The hero is accord­ ed the privilege of participation in one of these soirees and becomes transported at being surrounded by women and children and the great number of infantile satisfactions associated with milk and all its products, Saint-Preux's sensual enjoyment at this feast and the equal delight of Julie at his "hunger" barely conceal their other "appetites:" Je fis un go&ter d£licieux. Est-il quelques mets au monde comparables aux laitages de ce pays? Pensez ce aue doive etre ceux d'une laiterie ou Julie preside, et manges a cote d'elle. La Fanchon me servit des grus, de la c£rac£e, des gaufres, des Icrelets. Tout disparait k 1'instant. Julie riait de mon appltit. (IV,x,434) The hero mentions Julie's own love of food here but only in the context that her moderation, when it concerns some­ thing she so obviously enjoys, is an example to imitate: "Julie elle-meme pourrait me servir d'exemple; car auoiaue sensuelle et gourmande dans ses repas, elle n'aime ni la viande, ni les ragodts, ni le sel, et n'a jamais goftte de vin pur" (IV,x,435). The effort that Julie makes to curb all of her appe­ tites is reflected in.her desire to control those of others In this way a fine distinction arises: how to reconcile control over others with freedom? In effect, are not Julie and Wolmar imposing their will on others, and in doing so reducing the liberty of their servants? A similar problem arises in the Contrat social; Saint-Preux answers the notion of general will versus individual freedom in part when he 132

states; "Tout l'art..du maitre est de cacher cette gene /“d'etre contraint7 sous le voile du plaisir ou de 1'int^ret, en sorte qu*ils pensent vouloir tout ce au'on les oblige de faire" (IV,x,436). The word "voile" becomes auite striking here as it indicates a lack of openness, indeed, a conscious effort at deception. 7/hile in the Contrat social it is clear that the general will is meant to represent the interest of all the members of the community, the same "eciuality" does 12 not exist at Clarens. This has caused the novel to be dubbed "un roman des maitres.""^ Although he admits that servitude is not natural, Saint- Preux rationalizes the master-servant relationships at Clarens by insisting that there exists a certain equality among those of the same rank. While the latter is of small comfoyt to the modern reader, the over-all picture of self- dicipline, love of work and general accord with the wishes of the masters is the one that prevails in this letter. Saint- Preux returns again and again to the overriding importance of example: only through flawless example can the Wolmars hope to maintain complete control over their domain,/ He points out to Edouard that "Leur conduite est toujours franche et ouverte, parce cm'ils n'ont pas peur que leurs actions d^mentent leurs discours" (IV,x,451). It is clear that Julie cannot ever be guilty of providing a bad example to her people. She must maintain her role at all costs. In this way, letter ten serves to enclose the heroine totally in a "no exit" situation from which she cannot escape except through the most desperate of choices. letter ten also comprises both the crescendo and the resolution of wave three in virtuous order. The harmonious life at Clarens is based upon honesty and virtuous conduct. Thus far the equilibrium that Saint-Preux has described in great detail has not been disturbed. In this idyllic, rustic setting, the happy few have been able to carve out an existence 133

which, on the surfaa'e appears untroubled. Although the hero­ ine has shown signs of unrest from the very first letter of part four, and appears "d^gris^e"^^ since her miraculous conversion, it seems unlikely that she would have been tempted to change her situation if Saint-Preux had not re­ turned. Nonetheless, the moment at which the hero writes to Milord Edouard this ode to order all is still well in paradise. Even the hero seems convinced that he has recover­ ed heaven on earth. In many ways letter eleven becomes the complement of the preceding one: where ten describes the external, communal and "public" life at Clarens, eleven depicts the personal, if not intimate, and private aspect of life in Julie's utopia, v/e are introduced to one of several holy of holies that exist at Clarens: the Elysle. Because of its profound psycho­ logical importance letter eleven (like letter eighteen in book three), makes up the entire fourth wave. It begins from a status nuo position because the virtuous order of the prior wave becomes the starting point for Saint-Preux's recitation of this new revelation. On the affective plane the notion of a secret garden or of a private refuge represents a desire to go into the self, to probe the depths of one* s most intimate being. In this respect Julie's enchanted glade offers a veritable wealth of keys to the heroine's inner needs and disposition. The very name, Elysle,1^ has charged connotations in this con­ text: the Elysian Fields, the celebrated resting place for the heroes of antiauity and the virtuous, becomes a fitting name for Julie's refuge. The link with death, the struggle to maintain her virtue and the unique Qualities of the heroine are at once enhanced by the evocative name she has chosen for her inner sanctum. The entrance to the garden is hidden from view much as Julie1 s inner desires go unobserved: "Ce lieu, quoiaue tout proche de la maison, est tellement cach5 134 nar 1'allle couverte ciui 1'en s^pare, ou'on ne l'apergoit de nulle part. L'£pais feuillage aui I1 environne ne perraet point a 1*oeil d'y p£n£trer, et il est toujours soigneusement ferm£ a clef" (IV,xi,453). Y/hen Julie allows herself to con­ template her inner self, no "oeil" can penetrate what she is feeling. The one character in the novel who is described as an "oeil vivant" is Wolmar and he can he viewed as a conscience or super-ego figure to his wife. Upon entering the Elys£e, Uaint-Preux is struck by its freshness, the sounds of running water and of birds singing, greenery and flowers everywhere. He finds it "le lieu le plus sauvage, le plus solitaire de la nature, et il me semblait d'etre le premier mortel aui jamais eut p£n4tr6 dans ce desert" (IV,xi,454). Julie, the sorceress, has created a kind of Eden in which wildness, solitude and wonder all play a role. Although every detail of the layout, planning and work of the garden has been supervised by Julie herself, Saint-Preux notes: "Je n 1y vois pas de travail humain." In this regard his idol's order resembles that of the Creator in that no "apparent" effort nor system "seems" to be operating. The hero romps through Julie's garden with the abandon of a happy child— he enumerates with glee the varieties of plants, flowers, shrubs and fruits that he can identify; his amaze­ ment at Julie's feat of prestidigitation grows with every step. In this place only he notes: "on a sacrifi! 1'utile a I'agrlable" (IV,xi,456). One could say that the mistress of Clarens has indulged her fancy here, but on a deeper level Julie has revealed her need for control. The garden parallels Julie's disposition: she possesses an underlying need for order and harmony which she is aware of and she understands the role of will in realizing this need. At the same time, Julie is not fundamentally a rigid personality, but rather a sensuous being who needs even the illusion of natural wildness to preserve her own balance. Her garden 135 represents at once an exercise in self-control and in self-expression. Julie .confides in Saint-Preux that all that he sees has been the reward of patience and time. She uses the occasion to stress the importance of these two elements and to repoach the rich who always seem to renuire instant gratification: "Ce sont des expedients dont les gens riches ne s'avisent guere dans leurs plaisirs. Toujours presses de jouir, la force et 1'argent sont les seuls moyens ou'ils connaissent: ils ont des oiseaux dans des cages, et des amis a tant par mois" (IV,xi,459). This type of un­ hurried voluptuousness characterizes the crescendo of wave four: an ease and a deep desire to thrill over the joys of nature is revealed here that is cruite unlike the frenzy found in the early parts of the book. In addition to the natural delights found in the Elysle, there is also the sensation of being contained, finite. A kind of poetry of the refuge, of a limited space that one can know, be sure of and feel secure in, is exposed here. The finite does not give man the vertigo which the infinite does; he can sense his bounds and at the same time test himself with precision within this enclosure. The heroine's need for refuge, for protection and for inner control are all manifest in her private "dream landscape.'1"^ Saint-Preux profits from his description of the Elysle to lance a few barbed remarks at the French garden and its inferiority to the " jardin anglais" which he prefers. He links the French taste in gardens to their "faux goiit de grandeur," which he had already complained of in his letters from Paris in part two. The hero comments: "Au milieu de ses parterres et de ses grandes allies, son petit individu ne s'agrandit point: un arbre de vingt pieds le couvre comrae un de soixante: il n'occupe jamais que ses trois pieds d'espace, et se perd comme un ciron dans ses immenses possessions" (IV,xi,463-464). Thus, the hero himself has 136 moved from a purely physical to a metaphysical terrain in his discussion of Julie's hidden paradise. In spite of his admiration for his former mistress's creation, Saint-Preux feels that Julie has perhaps indulged in a superfluous amusement: she has neglected the bosquet on the other side of the house. Julie becomes embarrassed at the mention of the "lieu profane" as opposed to her new "lieu sacr!." Wolmar who has since joined the couple, quick­ ly reprimands the young man for his "unthinking remark: Jamais ma femme depuis son mariage n'a mis les pieds dans les bosquets dont vous parlez. J'en sais la raison quoiqu'elle me l'ait toujours tue. Vous oui ne 1'ignorez pas, apprenez a respecter les lieux ou vous etes; ils sont plant!s par les mains de la vertu. (IV,xi,468). Two important points are revealed by Wolmar's remarks: first of all, Julie is afraid to set foot in the spot where she experienced such a violent sensation, and secondly, Wolmar knows more than we have heretofore been led to believe. His own "secrets" indicate a chink in the armor of the openness he says he desires. In addition, Wolmar's quick retort has the effect of a slap on the hands given to a naughty school­ boy. In spite of this, Saint-Preux still accepts Wolmar's judgement as valid. Undaunted by Wolmar1s reprimand, the hero asks if he may be allowed to enter the Elysle alone and care for the birds, The next morning Julie sends her own key to the hero who has an unconscious sexual reaction: "AussitSt Julie envoya le sac de grain dans ma chambre et me donna sa propre clef. Je ne sais pourquoi je la regus avec vine sorte de peine: il me sembla que j'aurais mieux aim! celle de Wolmar" (IV',xi, 4 6 9 ) . There are four keys to the garden: Julie, Wolmar, the baron and Panchon each have one. The latter is a servant but in essence Saint-Preux shares Julie and her garden with two other men— her husband and her father. In the role of lover, the hero remains caught in the middle. In a sense, when Julie gives her own key to Saint-Preux she excludes 137

herself from her well-ordered universe and finds herself once again at the mercy of her desires, 'fhe giving of the key already signals Julie's defeat and her eventual renunciation of her "refuge" from passion. Upon entering the Blys£e alone daint-Ereux has fantasized an experience of rapturous delight that would bring him closer to Julie. However, when he reaches the spot where Wolmar's reprimand occurred he has a change of heart and saysi "J'ai cru voir 1' image de la vertu ou je cherchais celle du plaisir; cette image s'est confondue dans mon esprit avec les traits de Mme de Wolmar; et pour la premiere fois depuis mon retour, j'ai vu Julie en son absence, non telle ou'elle fut pour moi et que j'aime encore a me la repr^senter, mais telle qu1 elle se montre a mes yeux tous les jours" (IV,xi,469-470). Swayed by Wolmar and by Juliets virtuous role, Saint-Preux believes what he says here. He has always been impressionable and easily led and this incident is no exception. Besides, he wants to do the honorable thing regarding Julie and Wolmar, so that his desire to be "cured" is sincere. In this way, wave four resolves itself in virtuous order: the hero experi­ ences the joy that virtue can bring for the period of time he spends in the Elys^e alone, "Car la jouissance de la vertu est tout int6rieure, et ne s'aperqoit nue par celui qui la sent; mais tous les avantages du vice frappent les yeux d'autrui, et il n'y a que celui aui les a aui sachent ce au’ils lui content" (lV,xi,471). The calm, order and harmony of waves three and four con­ trast strongly with the fifth and final wave of book four. In this last crest the lovers undergo their trial by fire; the die is cast once and for all. In letter twelve Julie expresses her fear and panic to Claire; she calls her confidant "ma sauvegarde contre moi," and recounts what has thrown her into such a state. Wolmar had asked his wife and her former lover to accompany him on a walk in the bosquet; Julie considers the 138 latter a "lieu fatal." Physically agitated by her return to this spot with Saint-Preux, Julie notices that he too has lost his color and seems troubled. V/olmar speaks to them of his approaching old age and of his plans that the three of them be united in a lasting union. This preamble over, he procedes to enlighten both his wife and their friend about his past life. V/hat emerges is not so much a chronology of Julie's husband's life, but rather s psychological self- portrait tff some interest. Confessing that he naturally has a calm disposition and a cold heart, he depicts himself emotionally as a neuter person whose "seul principe actif est le goftt de 1'ordre." He adds: Si j'ai aueloue passion dominante, c'est celle de 1' observation. Si je pouvais changer la nature de mon etre et devenir un oeil. vivsnt je ferais volontiers cet Ichange. Ainsi mon indifference pour les hommes ne me rend point ind^pendant d'eux; sans me soucier d'en etre vu, j'ai besoin de les voir, et sans m'etre chers ils me sont n£cessaires.(IV,xii,474) It is a rather gruesome confession . but it explains a great deali Wolmar needs Julie and Saint-Preux to give his ovta exist­ ence meaning. An emotional eunuch, he has to feed and be fed on the emotions of others. Wolmar does not admit that he derives any pleasure from his observations but it is obvious that he does or else he could remain in a totally suspended, indifferent state, and never be bored. Nonetheless, Wolmar did realize at a certain point in his life that solitude annoyed him, unable to face old age alone, he decided to marry. Although all of this is being divulged six years after his marriage to Julie, one cannot help but wonder how these avowals affect the heroine. Among these declarations, Wolmar reveals that he knew all about the lovers' relationship be­ fore he married Julie. To think that the heroine has suffer­ ed unnecessarily for so many years, burdened by the guilt of her pre-marital affair, while Wolmar knew the whole story seems yet another manifestation of Wolmar’s cruelty. Because of his own lack of passion, Wolmar admires those 139 who are carried away by it; he says he believes that "XI n'y a que les araes de feu aui sachent combattre et vaincre; tous les grands efforts, toutes les actions sublimes sont leur ouvrage: la froide raison n'a jamais fait rien d'illustre, et 1*on ne triomphe des passions au'en les opposant l'une a l'autre" (IV,xii,476). In effect, V/olmar is confessing his own feelings of inadeouacy here. He began by speaking of old age, of his lack of emotions and he finishes with praise for those who are capable of feeling intensely. The combat of the lovers becomes far more noble in his eyes than .all of his observations could ever be. V/olmar remains, nonetheless, a manipulator and in this case a cruel one. He kisses Saint- Preux and his wife and insists that they also kiss one another. The repetition of the kiss in the bosquet forms part of V/olmar’s "cure." His idea is to "profane" or demystify places that have strong emotional meaning for the couple. The heroine assures Claire that she "survived" the test well and says: "Ce baiser n'eut rien de celui qui m ’avait rendu le bosquet redoutable: je m'en f4licitai tristement, et je connus que mon coeur 6tait plus chang£ aue jusque-la je n'avais os£ le croire" (IV,xii,479)• The adverb "tristement" stands out ambiguously in the phrase; it is hardly likely that Julie* s reactions would be the same as they were at the moment of their first kiss— besides Wolmar is there now. And while there is little doubt that both Julie and Saint-Preux have changed in the interval between kisses, the heroine has sup­ pressed her feelings at this moment. A few paragraphs later when her husband informs her that he plans a trip, Julie becomes quite shaken. Wolmar has compounded his cruelty: first he puts his wife in the arms of her former lover, then he announces his departure. Even Julie remarks to Claire that her husband seems to "vouloir me pousser h. bout." The verbs "vouloir" and "pousser" are well chosen. When Saint- Preux leaves them (unfortunately there is no letter recounting 140 his reaction to the second kiss in the bosquet), Julie begs Wolmar to stay or to defer his trip; with his extraordinary powers of observation how is it that he does not see his wife's distress and try to reassure her? Instead he throws all responsibility on her and remarks in a paternal tone: "Quoi done!...lime de Wolmar se contenterait-elle d’une vertu aui eftt besoin de choisir ses occasions? Pour moi, je suis plus difficile; je veux devoir la fidelity de ma femme a son coeur et non pas au hasard" (IV,xii,48l). Wolmar is playing with dynamite but appears unaware of its real danger. Julie admits her panic to Claire and also speaks of the weight of her /old guilt. Wow that all is in the open why must Julie still feel guilty? The latter guilt springs not from her past fault, but rather from her present fears and desires. She does not consciously know this but she does know that in the Christian faith one can sin in thought, word and deed. Julie herself describes her soul as "une onde agit^e" and envies Claire's tranquil state. The inseparable cousin recognizes Julie's alarm and attempts to calm her by stressing the exaggerated tone of Julie's letter. At this juncture she mentions the heroine's famous "ancestor," H^loise: "Cousine, tu fus amante comme H^loise, voila devote comme elle; plaise a Dieu que ce soit avec plus de succes." (IV,xiii,483). The use of the harrowing example of Hlloxse uncovers Claire's own hidden fears and foreshadows Julie's own pitiful end. Deprived of physical union with Abelard, H^loise's passion took on tragic 1 ft dimensions. While Claire tries to bolster her friend's morale and to soothe her by reminding Julie that her devotion to home and her sense of duty will protect her, she also prudently includes a list of subjects and situations to avoid while alone with their former preceptor. Wolmar's calm letter to Claire contrasts with his wife's agitated one. While he has in a sense put Julie in Saint- 141

Preux's arms again, he tells Claire of his project to "give" his children to the hero too. The forever tutor is to be entrusted with the education of Julie and Wolmar's offspring. He will be a kind of substitute father. It almost seems as if Wolmar were trying to rid himself of responsibility by turning over both his wife and his children to Saint-Preux. Julie* s husband confides to Claire that his wife and Saint- Preux still love each other, and yet paradoxically are "cured." He attributes this phenomenon to the power of virtue and reason. ’While observing that Saint-Preux is not totally cured, Wolmar admits that he is not sure about his wife: "un voile de sagesse et d'honnetet^ fait tant de replis autour de son coeur, ou*il n'est plus possible a 1'oeil d'y p£n£trer pas m§me au sien propre" (IV,xiv,492). (The image recalls the "oeil" which was incapable of pene­ trating the Elysfie, and also Claire's inability to decipher the hero's deepest feelings.) Wolmar is incapable of discering his wife's inner state; he ouestions if Julie herself knows her own feelings. The "voile" he speaks of can only have a negative meaning here; as in all of Rousseau, Julie's transparence and the transparency so necessary to a harmoni­ ous life at Clarens are both in auestion. Wolmar explains to Claire the theory upon which his now famous method of curing the lovers is based. Speaking of Saint-Preux he comments: Ce n'est pas de Julie de Wolmar au'il est amoureux, c'est de Julie d'Etange; il ne me hait point comme le possesseur de la personne au'il aime, mais comme le ravisseur de celle au'il a aim€e. La femme d'un autre n'est point sa maltresse; la m&re de deux enfants n'est plus son ancienne 6coliere. II est vrai au*elle lui ressemble beaucoup et au'elle lui en rappelle souvent le souvenir. II 1’aime dans le temps pass4: voila le vrai mot de l'^nigme. Otez-lui la m£moire, il n'aura plus d*amour. (IV,xiv,492) Wolmar believes that once memories of their burning passion are erased and substituted with other souvenirs, then they 19 will be completely healed of their love. He hopes to substitute Mme de Wolmar for Julie d'Etange in Saint-Preux's 142 imagination, "j1efface un tableau par un autre, et couvre le pass£ du present" (IV,xv,494). It will become clear in letter seventeen just to what extent Wolmar has exercised very poor judgement in regard to both lovers. Letters fifteen, sixteen and seventeen can be grouped together! the first expresses Saint-Preux1 s sad forebodings at Wolmar1 s departure, the second is Juliet curt note of reprimand to her husband, while the third marks Saint-Preux's recapitulation of the coupled "promenade en bateau." Letter fifteen introduces the passionate crescendo of seventeen, and sixteen is placed after seventeen on the descent of the wave because it is written after the events recounted in seven­ teen have occurred. Housseau has strategically placed Juliet note before Saint-Preux1 s long narration to heighten the 20 dramatic effect of the closing letter. Seventeen also represents the resolution of its own crescendo because in the lengthy missive a wide range of emotions and feelings is recounted. Just as Saint-Preux would have preferred to have Wolmar's key to the Elys^e instead of Julie's, he now wishes that Julie had gone away instead of her husband. The psycho­ logical reasons for both feelings are identical: in the first case Saint-Preux wants Wolmar1s "possession" and in the second he is afraid that he will take it. He would be "safe" if left alone with the master of the house, protected by the intimi­ dating father image. Whereas alone with Julie he is cast once more in the role of lover and now in the role of the son with incestuous desires. Julie's image as "la maraan de tout le monde" only serves to underscore this new dimension to the conflict. Julie chooses the moment of Wolmar1 s absence to con­ fide in Saint-Preux that her happiness is incomplete: Wolmar is an atheist. (Saint-Preux does not yet reveal to Edouard the reason for Julie's chagrin; he merely mentions it.) By 143 taking her former lover into her confidence, by sharing her "secret" unhappiness with him, Julie reveals her desire to be close to him and to derive some kind of sympathy from the hero for herself. In tearing down a barrier between herself and the hero she is erecting one between her husband and her. Unconsciously she is punishing Wolmar for his abandonment and for taking away one of her "sauvegardes." The heroine's reprimanding tone in letter sixteen under­ lines her prior hurt at being left alone with her former lover: "Wolmar, il est vrai, je crois m^riter votre estime; mais votre conduite n'en est pas plus convenable, et vous jouissez durement de la vertu de votre femme" (lV,xvi,497). Julie's reproaches serve as a rather ambiguous introduction to the final letter of part four. 'What begins as an idyllic excursion on the lake at dawn to fish and to enjoy the natural splendors of the surrounding countryside, nearly ends in tragedy. After having spent a pleasant morning on the lake, Saint-Preux steers the boat to its center and a sudden violent wind comes up (un s^chard), which pushes the boat to the opposite shore. A storm bursts forth, "les ondes deviennent terribles," and in a pre-Romantic scene par excellence, the lovers and boatmen struggle against the untamed forces of 21 nature for survival. The parallel between the interior conflict and the tension it has generated, and the exterior tempest is clearly drawn. In many ways the scene foreshadows Julie's death. They are exposed to the elements and in danger of drowning. In the struggle Saint-Preux sees "la paleur de la mort t e m i r les roses de son visage." Totally exhausted by the time they do reach the bank, the couple becomes more vulnerable to the strong emotions they have yet to confront. After rest and lunch Saint-rPreux proposes a walk and leads the heroine to the sight of one of his periods of greatest anguish: Meillerie. There he had engraved Julie's name and some verses of Tasso into the rocks 144

(Milord Edouard's image of love as an "eau-forte et corrosive" merits recalling here); the sight of these symbols of his torment, the "anciens monuments d'une passion si constante et si raalheureuseaffects Saint-Preux deeply. It also causes an equally profound reaction in the heroine. To the hero it seems like "ce lieu dftt etre l'asile de deux amants £chapp£s au bouleverseraent de la nature" (IV,xvii,501). The affective intensity of the hero's former retreat is increased greatly because of all that has happened to both him and Julie since his last visit there. The role of memory, and the power of the souvenir emerge here as phenomena of immense importance in the inner life of the protagonists. The power of the past engulfs the lovers, just as the lake nearly swept them away, and unable to bear the pain Julie proposes; "Allons- nous-en, mon ami, me dit-elle d'une voix £mue; 1'air de ce lieu n'est pas bon pour moi" (IV,xvii,502-503). Upon their return to the boat and during their wait for the repairs to be completed both lovers realize that their love is not dead; their ordeal on the lake and the visit to the evocative Meillerie has moved them both greatly, "A mon retour, le bateau n'6tant pas encore pret ni 1'eau tranauille nous softpames tristement, les yeux baiss^s, 1'air r6veur, mangeant peu et parlant encore moins" (IV,xvii,503). As they leave Saint-Preux holds Julie's hand and, back on the lake, the moon having risen, they move silently and sadly back toward Clarens. The hero's melancholy overtakes him with such force that he briefly considers enfolding Julie in his arms and plunging them both to a watery death. The hero realizes what Julie has also become aware of on this excursion: their plight is hopeless, they still love one another. The recent proximity to Julie has only irritated his feeling of loss and despair: Quand je g£missais dans 1'6loigneinent,l’ espoir de la revoir soulageait mon coeur; je me flattais qu'un instant de sa presence effacerait toutes mes peines; j'envisageais au moins dans les possibles 145

un Itat moins cruel aue le mien. Mais se trouver aupres cl* elle, mais la voir, la toucher, lui parler, 1'aimer, 1*adorer, et presoue^en la poss^dant encore^ la sentir perdue a jamais pour moi; voila ce nui me jetait dans des acces de fureur et de rage nui m'agit^rent par degr^s jusnu'au d€sespoir. Bientot je commenqai de rouler dans mon esprit des pro jets funestes, et, dans un transport dont je fr£mis en y pensant, je suis violemment tentl de la prlcipiter avec moi dans les flots, et d'y finir dans ses bras ma vie et mes longs tourments (IV,xvii,504) vVhenever the lovers' passion bursts forth, funereal images and desires accompany it. Now more than ever Julie is "I1interdite," and Saint-Preux must remain forever separated from her. They both understand this completely at this moment. The hero moves to the front of the boat and is overcome with grief, and when he returns to Julie her handkerchief is completely wet and her eyes are red and swollen. They have experienced a atrial by air, earth, v/ater and fire; they are exhausted physically and emotionally. The hero tells Edouards "Ah, lui dis-je tout bas, je vois cue nos coeurs n'ont jamais cess6 de s'entendre.' — II est vrai, dit-elle d'une voix alt4r£e; mais aue ce soit la derni&re fois qu'ils auront parl£ sur ce ton" tIV,xvii,504). Julie cannot be unfaithful to V/olmar; she cannot betray her family nor set a bad example for those who love her. As the center of her community, the inspiration to others, any fall from virtue would signal the end of all that she and Wolmar have achieved. For the first time in many years Julie has had to face her inner desires and needs. When Saint-Preux was away she was able to survive; after his return she is forced to let her buried love emerge. The boatride seals 2 ^ her fate forever, J She will never be happy again and she knows it. The heroine almost disappears from the book after this incident: she writes only four letters in the next two books— one in part five and three in part six; the former to Claire and the latter three to Saint-Preux. Her death, her actual disappearance, is well prepared. 146

Jaint-Preux realizes that Julie has passed through a dangerous moment. He tells Edouard: "Combien de gens sont faiblement tenths et succombent? Pour Julie, mes yeux le virent et mon coeur le sentit: elle soutint ce jour-la le plus grand combat nu'dme humaine ait pu soutenir; elle vainquit pourtant" (IV,xvii,505). Because she did nritt suc­ cumb physically the hero feels that she triumphed. Hers was a pyrrhic victory; she is in a "huis clos" existence from which the only escape will be death. On the other hand, Saint-Preux feels that she has conquered her desire and on this point he is mistaken. Actually the veil that V/olmar spoke of earlier which has covered Julie's emotions has served to conceal her inner strife from her former lover too. The boatride proves to what extent Wolmar's method is 24 unsound: The lovers' passion has triumphed over time. Saint-Preux may have returned to Clarens still in love with Julie d'Etange but at the end of "ce jour p^rilleux" he leaves the lake in love with Julie de V/olmar. The hero has already told Edouard that Julie is more attractive now than she was before. In turn, the heroine has never stopped lov­ ing Saint-Preux, and his return only served to rekindle a flame which she had succeeded in hiding when she was not ex­ posed to his presence. Among the important symbols in part four are the bosquet and the rocks at Meillerie, recurring signs of the couple's passion which serve to accent the continued presence of their love. The lake and the storm represent the turmoil caused by their feelings toward one another, and the inability of human force to master natural forces. On the other hand, Clarens signifies the refuge from passion: order and peace reign there. Julie's desire to sublimate her emotional and sexual needs into a well-run, well-ordered estate is clear­ ly reflected in the economy of her domain. The microcosm of 147 her desire for control is found in the Elysle— in her gar­ den the heroine has succeeded in giving the illusion of a completely undomesticated spot, when in reality she has planned it all. Her wish to impose her will and to dominate even nature (here her natural impulses) is revealed with great psychological subtlety in the Elysle. As a project undertaken during Saint-Preux's absence the Elysle appears more than ever as an exterior manifestation of the heroine's unconscious desire for self-mastery. In this regard, the refuge which the garden offers can be contrasted with the un­ leashed power of the storm and the savage, haunting beauty of Meillerie. The eauations order/disorder, exterior/in- terior once again impose themselves. The Elysle represents the heart of Julie's conflict as well as the "abime" of the novel itself. The garden is in 25 the tradition of the " jardin d'amour" of the Middle Ages. In the Guillaume de Lorris' Roman de la Rose, the lover is searching for the ideal woman and ideal love which are in­ side the garden. He penetrates this world— the ordered epitome of courtly society— and he leaves behind the alle­ gorical figures of Hatred, Poverty, Envy and the other nega­ tive Dualities found in the outside, disordered world. The detailed description of the garden in the medieval p CL poem is not unlike Rousseau's ElysSe and even the entrance 27 resembles the hidden door to Julie's inner sanctum. The low-key sensuality (le bouton, la rose ouverte e.t large, les espines) in the earlier garden becomes important in Rousseau's version for the same reasons that courtly love used it; fear of overt sexuality and a double view of the woman as seductive and saintly. Those who guard the Rose (Danger, Honte, Peur) can be viewed as aspects of her personality and her resistence which the lover attempts to break down. Julie, in planning her garden, has been able to mask these very same qualities. Saint-Preux has 148 had to battle fear, shame and a sense of danger in his 28 mistress from the outset. In addition, the lover carries on an interior dialogue between "folie" and "raison" in the poem which parallels Julie and Saint-Preux1s dilemma in the novel. "Folie" triumphs in Lorris. More importantly, the whole concept of a secret garden or hortus closus goes back even further than the Middle Ages to the Narcissus legend. Julie's garden reflects her personality, her inner longings and her love of self. The heroine attempts to maintain this controlled vision of her­ self at any cost. The danger inherent in this kind of pro­ jection is the same one that faced Narcissus— confusion between illusion and reality. Julie refuses to accept the reality of her feelings and prefers to make illusion reality. Death awaits her as it did Narcissus— both are deceived by 2Q an illusion. When Julie gives her key to the garden to Saint-Preux she has symbolically renounced her illusion about her ability to continue to control her passion. It is the key to her heart and to her body which she willingly surrenders to him. The unbearable psychological tension which Julie has ex­ perienced since Saint-Preux's return culminates in the boat- ride on the lake during which Julie realizes that she has de­ luded herself. Her realization at this crucial moment de­ termines the course the novel will take in the remaining books. 149

FOOTNOTES

^Confessions, O.C. Vol. 1, p. 546. Q This is not to imply fhat La Nouvelle H4loise (or part four of it) was Rousseau's favorite work; the one he pre­ ferred was Emile.

■^Charles D£d6yan has dubbed Julie's tone in this letter as the expression of a "mal du siecle." Jean-Jacnues Rousseau: La Nouvelle Hlloise (Paris: Centre de documentation universitaire, no date), p. 154.

^From this statement it is clear that Rousseau had keen insight into the position of women of the period.

^Lecercle calls V/olmar's method "une id£e brillante mais factice oui envoie sa femme a la mort." Rousseau et l1art du roman (Paris: Armand Colin, 1969), p. 125.

^D^deyan has the following comment on i/olmar's idea of thrusting the lovers together and testing them: "Au fond, cette attitude no r€vlle-t-elle pas une inouiltude secrlte? II-apporte une hate presaue febrile dans cette dpreuve du feu." And farther on he adds: "Pourtant cette catharsis . qu'il veut op^rer ne confine-t-elle pas a la cruautS mentale?" op. cit., p. 100. 7 There are a number of emotionally charged "homecomings" in the Confessions; as a young wanderer Rousseau returned many times to Mme de Y/arens both at Annecy and Chamb£ry. The feelings of elation and dread that he often felt on these occasions are mirrored in Saint-Preux's anxiety. Starobinski has said of La Nouvelle H^loise that "le roman se d£veloppera dans une sTrie de ruptures et de retours." La Transparence etc., p. 154. Besides Saint-Preux*s de­ partures and returns, there are Claire's, Edouard's, V/olmar's and the baron's (not to mention the return of Fanchon's hus­ band at the end of the novel), the only "stationary" character is Julie. Q "L1 amour interdit" forms the basis of many of the most celebrated myths: Tristan and Iseult and Phedre among others. In another context Charles Mauron has made some remarks that perfectly suit the path the Julie-Saint-Preux love affair will now follow: "Le moyen age a vu fleurir le thfeme de 1' amour passion dans Tristan et Iseult, la fatality et le vertige incestueux dans le mythe de Phfedre— 1' amour interdit. L'amant, pour avoir projetS sur une femme interdite le souvenir inconscient de la communion maternelle, voit se 150

meler a son d£sir un trouble aui l'angoisse. II en rejette s.ur autrui la responsabilit€ redoutable." Psycho critique du(\ genre comique (Paris: Jos£ Corti, 1964), p. 133. q Rousseau, "petit," played the same role between "maraan" and Claude Anet. The author's preference for maternal women has already been noted.

^Although Clarens actually exists Rousseau may have un­ consciously chosen it because of the evocative combination of syllables: it can be interpreted as part "clair," one of his favorite words, and "Warens" the woman who was the great love of"his life.

11Bellenot reminds us: "Rousseau nous indique lui-m§me qu* il s'est inspirl de la R^publique de Platon pour nous proposer comme modele le petit monde de Clarens. Nos valeurs bourgeoises descendent de celles des Grecs et des Roma.ins, mSme si elles n'en sont plus aujourd'hui cue la caricature. La passion est condaran£e avec le meme m^pris nu' affectaient les Anciens - Platon le tout premier - pour cette maladie anti-naturelle aui trouble le bon sens." "Les formes de 1' amour dans La Nouvelle H£loi3e et la significa­ tion symboliaue des personnages de Julie et de Saint-Preux," AJJR, XXXIII (1953-1955), p. 190. 12 Lionel Gossman forcefully attacks the illusion of liberty, equality and fraternity at Clarens. He points out that everything is organized in favor of the masters and that "Behind the facade of community lies a real and rich in­ dividual world for the masters." "The Worlds of La Nouvelle Hjlolsje," Studies on Voltaire, XLI (1966) p. 261.~Tt"*"shouTd— also be recalled that the "legislateur" in the Contrat social is above the crowd; he represents the will of God and he acts for the "good" of the others.

^DSdSyan, p. 50.

■^Llauzi uses the word in describing Julie's "4tat d'ame" in part four letter one: "Apr&s sa metamorphose miraculeuse nui fut le point de depart de tout, nous assistons a 1'application laborieuse de resolutions methodiques. Julie, de^risle, retrouve a nouveau sa faiblesse et ne cherche au'a s'en defendre." "La conversion de Julie dans La Nouvelle H^loise," AJJR, XXXV (1959-1962), p. 37. 15 'In fairness it should be noted that the appellation "Elysium" was frequently given to this type of garden by eighteenth- century garden designers. Peter Willis, "Rousseau, Stowe and 151

Le Jardin anglais: speculation on visual sources for La Nouvelle H^loiseStudies on Voltaire, XC (1972), p. 1791.

*1 Willis has noted: "Dreams and Elysiums go together; it is no secret that Addison's dream landscapes, particularly as described in the Spectator were admired by Rousseau when young. Jean-Jacaues willingly acknowledged his debt." Ibid., p. 1797. 17 In addition to the phallic desire to possess Wolmar's key to Julie's garden, there seems to me to be yet another link with the Tristan and Iseult legend: the exchange of the swords enacted by Ware while the lovers sleep. All of these images can be seen as symbols of possession of the woman. Many of the symbols used in connection with the garden are sexual. In addition to the keys which are phallic, the "oeil" which cannot penetrate the refuge serves as a double image of "conscience" and "penetration"— the verb, "penetrer," carries strong sexual overtones, and "l'oeil." hints at voyeurism and desire for control. Voyeurism conceals both fear and impotence— both haunt the characters in the novel. 1 ft In a study of the letters of Abelard and H^loise as one of the sources of Rousseau’s novel, Anne Marie Haynaud has pointed out many stylistic similarities between the novel and the letters of the twelfth-century lovers. She stresses the eighteenth-century reader's familiarity with both the story and the style of the medieval couple. "Une source mdconnue de La Nouvelle H^loise," M.A. Thesis, University of Chicago 1924, pp. 11-13. Claire’s remark here supports Haynaud’s idea; the latter cites Claire's phrase p. 7.

19 * .Raymond believes that "La morale sensitive est la cle de 1' oeuvre de Rousseau et de la m^thode de Wolmar: il entreprend de gu£rir Saint-Preux en rompant les liens qui 1'attachent a des souvenirs et a des lieux enchant^s." "Jean-Jacaues Rousseau. Deux aspects de sa vie int^rieure," AJJR, XXIX (1941-1942), p. 30. In Book Nine of the Confessions Rousseau draws up a list of projected works and works Tn progress, among them is a treatise entitled La Morale sensitive. He never completed the work and the manuscript was lost IRousseau accuses d'Alembert of stealing it; see O.C., Vol. I, p. 608), but it contained ideas which often'reappear in his other works. Rousseau was influenced by Locke and especially by Condillac s Traitg des sensations (1754). The basic idea of the Morale sensitive is that man's behavior is affected by his environ- ment and by the objects or persons which surround him. Thus, if the exterior could be controlled, man would be able to 1 5 2 control his actions and reactions and thereby lead a virtuous life. He notes: "Que d16scarts on sauveroit a la raison, aue de vices on empScheroit de naitre si l'on savoit forcer 1'Iconomie animale a favoriser 1' ordre moral qu'elle trouble si souvent! Les climats, les saisons, les sons, les couleurs, I1 obscurity, la lumilre, les Clemens, les alimens, le bruit, le silence, le mouvement, le repos, tout agit sur notre machine et sur notre ame par conseauent; tout nous offre mille prises presaue assur£es pour gouverner dans leur origine les sentimens dont nous nous laissons dominer." O.C. , Vol. I, p. 409. In effect, one of the main themes of tla""Nouvelle H^loise is found in the above theory: the Elys^e, the marriage of reason, the organization of the estate at Clarens all remain manifestations of a desire for exterior control which will lead to an ethic of behavior for all. By the same token, one could say that Rousseau has put the cart before the horse here and he realizes it to some extent when he says in the Eighth Reverie: "Domini par mes sens auoioue je puisse faire, je n'ai jamais su resister a leurs impressions, et tant que l'objet agit sur eux mon coeur ne cesse d'etre affect^; mais ces affections passageres nevdurent qu' autant aue la sensation aui les cause. Cette action de mes sens sur mon coeur fait le seul tourment de ma vie." O.C., Vol. I, p. 1082.

2in . Rousseau's personal manuscript of the novel he had originally placed letter sixteen last. That is the order of letters seventeen and sixteen was reversed. Pomeau, p. 799. 21 The moral trial by the four elements has a Masonic ring here: air (the violent wind), water (the waves on the lake), earth (the cliffs and grotto at Meillerie) and fire (their passion). The above all seem to conspire to put the lovers to the supreme test. It should be recalled that Freemasonery was very much in vogue in the second-half of the eighteenth century. In Mozart's Magic Flute (1791), which has been called a Masonic opera, the lovers pass through these symbolic ordeals. o o This suicide "a deux" parallels Julie's vision of their death in her room in part one. It is worth noting that Saint-Preux s e e sthem dying in "les flots," the symbol of their passion.

2^Bellenot notes: "Dls la promenade sur le lac c'est en vain que Julie tente de contraindre son amour, de le perp^tuer dans sa puretl originelle; la passion submerge les amants et s'empare entierement du coeur trop faible de Saint-Preux." "Les formes de 1'amour dans La Nouvelle HSloise etc." AJJR, Vol. XXXIII, p. 168. 153

24 Lecercle has remarked that time, the great enemy of passion, is conquered hy memory in La Nouvelle H4loXse, and that "la passion des amants triomphe de la durfi e." Rousseau et I1art du roman, pp. 154 & 159. 25 Here is the lover1s description of the "vergier" in Lorris:

Quant j'oi un poi avant al6, Si vi un vergier grant e lit Tot clos de haut mur batailli€, Portrait dehors e entailli£ A maintes riches escritures. (v. 129-133) Guillaume de Lorris, Le Roman de la Rose, ed. Stephen G. Nichols, Jr. (New YorTct" Appleton-Uentury-Crofts, 1967) p. 19. 2 6 Lines 463-496 in the above edition depict the privacy, the greenery, the many birds and their delightful songs— in brief the ideal retreat which the garden affords the lover. 27 E la cloison dou mur carr£, Tant que un uisset bien serr6 Trovai, petitet e estroit; Par autre leu nus n'i entroit. (Ibid., v. 515-519) p Q In Jean de Meuag's Roman de la Rose the view of the woman changes drastically. Rather than speaking of any ideal, there is an about-face on the nature of woman herself. An excellent example of this coincides with the earliest mention of Abelard and H^loise in French literature: "Et notre cher^FrSre Pierre Abeilard confessait aussi que sa mie, Soeur H^loise, abesse du Paraclet, bien aimante, bien lettr^e, le suppliait de ne point se marier! Elle lui prouvait par escritures aue les conditions du mariage sont trop dures et s^veres, combien soient sages les 6poux! H6loise voulait qu' il 1'aima telle, sans r^clamer nul droit, fors franchise et amour, et se livrer entier a l'Stude, sans seigneurie et sans maitrise! Elle ajoutait que plus vive £tait leur joie, et doux leur plaisir, lorsque plus longue €tait leur absence! Mais Pierre Abeilard, si fort 1'aimait, qu*il l'epousa. Et H^loise, d'Argenteuil nonnain revStue, apprit que fut la coille a Pierre tondue, a Paris, en son lit, de nuit; ce dont il eut peine et ennui de telle dure m£cheance! Et il fut moine de Saint-Denis en France, et abb£. II fonda une abbaye, le Paraclet, dont sa mie abbesse, il nomma. Et H^loise lui a mand6, par lettre expresses 'Pierre, si 1'empereur de Rome, devant lequel flSchissent les gens, daignait me prendre pour femme, et me faire, du monde, Dame: j'aimerais mieux, j'en prends Dieu a t£moin, 6tre ta putain appel^e, qu' imperatrice couronnle!' 154

Quelle profonde connaissance des moeurs de femme elle avaitl" Jean de |ffeung» II® Roman de la Rose, ed. Georges Vertut (Paris: Nouvel Office d'Edition, 19f>5) p. 132

2 %?he fate of the lover in Lorris* Roman de la Rose is sym­ bolically similar: he is deceived by the ""rairoir p£rilleux." 155

CHAPTER V RENUNCIATION Resignation, retreat and renunciation are the key words of book five of La Nouvelle H|loise. After the emotional ordeal suffered by the lovers in the preceding section, a time for meditation, reintegration and decision seems to impose itself on the household at Clarens. The joys of private life are harmoniously contrasted with the rewards of communal living. Once again, it is the masters whose lives are drawn as rich and full, whereas one is given only a partial view of the existence of the domestics on the estate. In this regard a number of parallels link books four and five. Although a sustained effort is made to con­ tinue the utopian ambience established in parts of book four, a change has occurred that cannot be ignored: Julie has begun the retreat which signals her renunciation of everything. The letters describing the silence and the intimacy of family life serve to introduce the theme of withdrawal. An examination of the breakdown of the letters in this section will pinpoint just to what extent a major shift appears here. It should be noted that the number of epistles is once again reduced— there are fourteen: from Saint-Preux to Fdouard 5 letters from Edouard to Saint-Preux 2 letters from Saint-Preux to Wolmar 2 letters from Saint-Preux to Claire 1 letter from Claire to Saint-Preux 1 letter from Wolmar to Saint-Preux 1 letter from Julie to Claire 1 letter from Henriette to Claire 1 letter Totals: Saint-Preux writes eight letters (and receives four), Edouard writes two, Claire, Wolmar, Julie and Henriette write one letter each. Prom the above it is clear that the hero dominates this section of the novel. Most of what we know of Clarens and of Julie's post-crisis condition is filtered through her 156 former lover's sensibilities. As has already been noted by the characters close to the heroine, it is difficult to pene­ trate Julie's deepest feelings and, in this section, no one does. It is only through her single letter (a desperate ploy to marry her best friend to the man she longs for), through some of Saint-Preux1s remarks and through Henriette1s 11 innocent" note to her mother that we gain some insight into the heroine's inner strife. The protagonist's isolation is also accented in that she receives no letter from any of the other characters. While Edouard writes two letters here, his chief role remains that of recipient; he also acts as a vehicle for effecting changes in the plot (Saint-Preux leaves Clarens to accompany his firend to Italy). The voices of Claire and Wolmar are all but silenced in part five and their actions and reactions, like those of the heroine, often form part of Saint-Preux's narrative. The movement of the correspondence remains that of the wave-like motion previously established; the diagram on the following page charts its course. Although the reestablish­ ment of order and harmony dominates this part, a number of disorderly and agitated events still occur. Milord Edouard's response to Saint-Preux's long letter recounting his ordeal on the lake opens this book; it aims to rebuke the hero for his behavior and to impose the re­ turn to a status quo situation. The English peer exhorts his friend to be a man and to profit from his searing ex­ periences with passion. Edouard recalls the hero's many ups and downs and tells him that a period of calm and medi­ tation is essential for his well-being: "II ne vous reste plus d'objet a regarder que vous-m8me, ni de jouissance a goftter que celle de la sagesse" (V,i,508). As Edouard sees it, Julie’s example of the "triumph" of virtue over physical desire should act as an inspiration to his weak C. Crescendo

3. C h a g rin D. 1. Reproaches

2. Reassurances 2. Reassurances

B . 1. R eproaches 3. C h a g rin

A. Status quo E . O rd e r H SuperTTcial 2. Virtuous 3. N a tu ra l 4. Sensible

W AVES

I. (B 1) 1; (B 2) 2 {C) 2 (E2* 3) 2

H. (A ) 3 (B 2) 3 (C) 3 (D 2) 3 (E 3) 3 in. (B 3) 4, 5 (C) 6 (D2) 6 (E1) 6

IV . (A) 7 (C) 7 (E3) 7

V. (B 2) 8 (C) 9 (D1) 10;

These privations can he seen as a further attempt to salve her conscience and to expiate her guilt. Letter two introduces yet another inner sanctum at Clarens: Julie's private dining room, "le Salon d'Apollon. Like the Elys£e, the "Salon d'Apollon" represents Julie's deep desire for order, peace and harmony. Hot only is Clarens a refuge from disorder but the various retreats within the estate itself protect the heroine from her inner unrest. This mirroring technique that Housseau has employed throughout the novel is particularly effective here because it underscores Julie's constant search for repose and ex­ terior calm. Just as the Elys£e is reserved for the happy few, the "Salon d'Apollon" also remains a sanctuary for those to whom Julie grants entrance; it is a part of the house to which only the "6lite" are admitted: Les simples hotes n'y sont point admis, jamais on n'y mange nuand on a des Strangers; c'est l'asile inviolable de la confiance, de l'amiti^, de la liberty. C'est la soci!t€ des coeurs aui lie en ce lieu celle de la table; elle est une sorte d'initiation a 1'intimity, et jamais il ne s'y rasserable aue des gens qui voudraient n'etre plus s6par6s. (V,ii,529) Julie refuses to use the salon daily and reserves it for special occasions only. She feels that there is a certain "ennui" which ensues if one is always confortable. The hero­ ine's reaction to pleasure is invariably negative. Julie's "ennui" stems more from a fear of enjoyment than from any real discomfort while she is in the act of having a good time. In an effort to limit pleasure, she convinces herself that it can be harmful. The heroine's sense of guilt and her rigidity are revealed by this attitude. The hero seizes this opportunity to discourse on the virtues of moderation; the French again are tacitly evoked as he criticizes opulence, luxury and the taste for magnifi­ cence. Saint-Preux adopts a severe Pascalian tone as he ex­ claims: "0 homme petit et vain! montre-moi ton pouvoir, je te 160 montrerai ta mis&re" (V,ii,532). The hero's list of the advantages and virtues of country life over city life con­ tinues the tone of the letters found in part four which deal with Clarens. Great care is taken to describe each detail of the daily chores and the number of tasks perform­ ed and goods produced on the estate that serve to make the p little community self-sufficient. In the midst of all this simple productivity Julie reigns supreme and sets the tone for all. Saint-Preux notes again and even stresses that Julie possesses a keen interest in food and pleasure of the table but that she strictly imposes moderate habits on herself. The hero feels that it is through her "volupt£ temp£rante" that she is able to "aiguise et rlgle a la fois sa gourmandise" tV,ii,537). Julie applies the same system to all of her sensual desires: by having her former lover so near to her, the heroine is able to excite and control her passions at the same time. However, the resulting psycho­ logical strain cannot be sustained indefinitely and comes to a head at the end of book five. In any case, letter two resolves in a euphoric mood of virtue and self-righteousness. Just as the latter epistle parallels the one on domestic economy in part four, letter three reflects the ElysSe let­ ter and the intimate, inner world of the heroes. The motifs of retreat, meditation (recueillement) and silence are treated. The well-known "matinee a l'anglaise" becomes the pivotal point of this, the second longest letter of part five. This epistle comprises an entire wave because of its many movements and its harmonious resolution in natural order. The movement begins in a peaceful, status quo position as the hero recounts to his English friend the joys of being in the presence of those he loves and of keeping silent; he quotes Marini to describe the situation: "Ammutiscon le lingue, e parlan 1'alme" (V,iii,546). The latter citation could be extended to include not just the actual moment drawn 161

by Saint-Preux, but also the unspoken communication that exists between Julie's soul and his own. The immobility and the ecstasy described presage similar moments in the Reveries. The difference being that here part, if not all, of the thrill of existence and inner communion is linked to others. Saint-Preux uses these moments of contemplation to ex­ plore and to explain to Edouard Julie's method of rearing and educating her children. The hero compares this system with her care of the Elys£e: both have an air of negligence about them but in reality they are strictly controlled. In discussing "le bon naturel" of the children and their distinct temperaments and abilities, Saint-Preux cites Plato: "Platon votre matre ne soutenait-il pas aue tout le savoir humain, toute la philosophie ne pouvait tirer d'une ame humaine que ce aue la nature y avait mis, comme toutes les operations chimiques n’ont jamais tir£ d'aucun mixte ou'autant d'or au'il en contenait d£ja?" (V,iii,552). He continues by stressing the idea that it is not a question of changing or bending a personality, but rather of pushing it and of cultivating it through education so that it can fulfill its potential (devient tout ce qu1 il peut etre)3 Julie's method does not stress intellectual development so much as a strong body and a free spirit; children are by nature dependent and must learn to serve themselves and eventually assume the responsibility of caring for others. If the parents are constantly being served like infants, children will never see the example of strength and self-sufficiency which is so necessary to their own growth. In the moral and ethical education of children the rule to be followed is that of authority; children are incapable of understanding reason or persuasion, therefore, the parents' authority only should be invoked in these matters. Much of the discussion of education, morals and religion is given in 162 dialogue form by Saint-Preux and not in simple narrative. In this way, a lively exchange is achieved without the preaching tone that often pervades the letters of exposition of an idea. For all of her puritanical notions, Julie appears rather unorthodox when it comes to prayer and religion: she does not insist that her children memorize their cate­ chism but that they absorb its principles. She herself stresses the need for good example and good habits for the effective education of children on every level: Pour les garantir des vices aui ne sont pas en eux, ils ont, ce me semble, un pr^servatif plus fort aue des discours qu*ils n'entendraient point, ou dont ils seraient bientot ennuy^s: c'est 1'exemple des moeurs de tout ce aui les environne; ce sont les entretiens cu'ils entendent, oui sont ici naturels a tout le monde, et au'on n'a pas besoin de composer exprSs pour eux; c'est la paix et 1'union dont ils sont t&noins; c'est 1’accord au'ils voient rSgner sans cesse et dans la conduite respective de tous, et dans la conduite et les discours de chacun. (V,iii,569-570) The heroine did not have the advantage of such honest and open examples of good conduct: the baron was an absentee father, her mother was weak and La Chaillot has already been estab­ lished as a negative influence. While it is clear that Julie is exposing her ideas here, it is also evident that she is admonishing Saint-Preux: she can never be guilty, nor must he be, of providing anything but an inspiring example to follow. The slow realization of the collision course on which her id and super-ego are headed cause her to choose retreat and re­ nunciation as her only options. However, still maintaining a faqade of calm, Julie is seen as the epitome of harmony at this juncture and the notions described in this letter cause a peaceful resolution of the crescendo in natural order. The third crest of book five contrasts by its disorder with the two previous harmonious waves of emotion. It begins with the demand of Edouard that Saint-Preux confide to him the reason for Julie's unhappiness. Thus, letter five uncovers Wolmar's atheism as the source of the heroine's private chagrin. The transparent atmosphere so desired by Julie and 163

Wolmar becomes clouded by Wolmar*s duplicity: "penser en impie et vivre en chrdtien" is hardly the most open and honest way of behaving. Julie is so distressed by her husband's lack of faith that she hopes to die before he does if he does not receive God's grace. The hero feels that Wolmar’s atheism covers their union with a "voile de tristesse." Although initially Julie used Saint-Preux as her confidant in this matter, later they are all able to discuss Wolmar's disbelief openly. In a discussion of evil Julie excuses herself and Wolmar ciuickly opens and adjoining door, only to discover his wife kneeling in prayer and bathed in tears. Saint-Preux describes Julie's panic at their discovery and her shame; she tries in vain to flee. Both men assume that Julie is crying because of her husband1s lack of faith, however, it seems to me that she could just as easily be asking forgiveness for her own "evil" thoughts and desires. Why else is Saint- Preux under the impression that Julie is "ashamed." Wolmar's gesture shows once again his own sadistic nature. His desire to expose his wife's distress to another, even Saint-Preux, emerges as quite cruel. The master of Clarens lacks charity and, for all of his passionate observations, understanding. Letter six marks the crest of this wave of disorder: the reunion between Claire and Julie becomes a veritable clash of confusion which contrasts forcefully with the pre­ ceding idyllic and calm atmosphere. Much as her reunion with Saint-Preux, this one with Claire is characterized by spontaneous physical movement. In her desire to surprise her cousin, Claire does not announce the date of her arrival. Julie, caught completely off guard reacts instantly and violently at the sight of her "sauvegarde." The heroine's erratic behavior betrays the strain that she has been under and her relief at being joined by her confidant. Julie's iron control over her emotions gives way in this moment of total surprise. 164

As Saint-Preux depicts the reunion scene to Edouard, it emerges as a chaotic event in which a complete lack of control of emotions reigns. Henriette, who is seated on Julie1s lap when her mother enters the room, rushes to greet Claire hut is knocked to the floor as the two cousins fling themselves at one another. The emotional reactions are so forceful that both ladies fall to the floor in a swoon and Julie becomes ill. As usual, the heroine^ inner feelings can be accurately detected through her physical state. The hero himself is so moved by the "touch­ ing" scene that he wanders around the room helplessly, unable to assist anyone. Even Wolmar appears affected by the un­ leashed passions of the two friends. The sublimation of passionate love into duty and friendship roles in La Nouvelle Hgloise can be viewed as the cause of this violent scene. Even in this "safer" form of displaying emotions, Julie loses control mainly because she has repressed so many other feel­ ings. Both Claire and Julie seem to fear sex and the sexual contact that their relationships with men entail. As a re­ sult they attach great importance to their friendship which affords them at once a refuge from the ravages of passion and a secure means of channeling their own sensuality.^- Saint-Preux^ recapitulation of the party to celebrate Claire^ arrival abounds in words of confusion and disorder; the upset caused by the unexpected return of the "inseparable" permeates the entire estate. He notes: "La f§te fut ceilbree, non pas avec pompe, mais avec d^Hre; il y r^gnait une confusion qui la rendait touchante, et le desordre en faisait le plus bel ornement" (V,vi,586). It seems as if the hero­ ine^ inner turmoil is released in this evening and infectious­ ly spreads to the other participants. At the dance, Claire appears gay 'and more brilliant than ever while Julie seems weak and barely able to stand. Saint-Preux incorrectly attributes Juliet state to her Joy. In effect, the heroine 165 is retreating further and is ready to cede her role to her cousin. The hero observes: "Souvent on voyait des larmes de joie couler de ses yeux; elle contemplait sa cousine avec une sorte de ravissement; elle aimait a se croire l'£trang&re a aui 1'on donnait la fete, et a regarder" (V,vi,587). A role reversal has occurred: Julie now feels "6trangere" be­ cause she knows that she cannot conquer her feelings of passion. Saint-Preux, who has integrated himself into the communal life at Clarens, is no longer the "Itranger" and will remain in control as long as Julie does. She knows this; he does not. Julie’s withdrawal is further accented in that Claire's duties will consist chiefly in running the house. This crescendo of confusion resolves itself in superficial order: the cousins divide the tasks at Clarens and it seems as if all they lack now to make their utopia complete is Edouard's presence. On the contrary, Claire's arrival signals the beginning of the end for the heroine and the latter's total retreat. Where the crest of emotion remains highly personal and disorderly in the third wave, the fourth one depicts the communal and harmonious aspects of life in a well-ordered society. The famous scene of the "vendanges" or grape har­ vest occupies an entire wave. It begins from a status quo position of harmony in which the hero lauds the charms of country living and hard work. He does not miss the oppor­ tunity to criticize the Parisians and their "silly" notions of what life out of the city consists of: "Les habitants de Paris oui croient aller a la campagne n'y vont point: ils portent Paris avec eux" tV,vii,589). The hero invariably equates rustic life with a prior time of innocence and "tous les charmes de l'age d'or," The grape harvest requires an entire week of labor in which spirits are high and the work is seen as both useful and agreeable. Everyone sings, talks, works and eats together. Luxury and opulence are not important 166

but abundance. The joy in sharing in such a "spontaneous" event affects all the inhabitants of Clarens. Even the baron and Saint-Preux become reconciled in the spirit of fraternity that permeates the estate. The hero remarks: "la douce 6galit6 aui regne ici rltablit 1'ordre de la nature, forme une instruction pour les uns, une consolation pour les autres, et un lien d'amiti£ pour tous" (V,vii,595). Particularly touched by the voices of the women singing in unison, Saint-Preux transposes the harmony of the moment into a musical one. Nonetheless, in the midst of all the enjoy­ ment Saint-Preux feels a certain premonition of doom which doubtless Julie has communicated to him. His sadness is crystallized by the memories evoked in the songs being sung, "de vieilles romances" which have an antiaue and gentle ouali- ty: Nous ne pouvons nous empScher, Claire de sourire, Julie de rougir, moi de soupirer, auand nous retrouvons dans ces chansons des tours et des expressions dont nous nous sommes servis autrefois. Alors, en jetant les yeux sur elles et me rappelant les temps eloign^s, un tressaillement me prend, un poids insupportable me tombe tout a coup sur le coeur, et me laisse une impression funeste nui ne s'efface nu'avec peine. (V,vii,596) iJaint-Preux*s "impression" is clearly shared by the heroine who reddens upon hearing the same songs which so move her former lover. Thus while the exterior of the feast is accompa­ nied by a natural order in which each person has an assigned role which he dutifully fulfills, the interior life of the main characters remains troubled. The closing of the even­ ing' s work with fireworks has a double significance here: it signals both the "feu de joie" of those who have toiled diligently each day but it also represents a projection of the lovers', especially Julie's, inner fire. It is the hero­ ine who oversees this event and who lights the fireworks. The final crescendo of part five depicts a return to the disorder and confusion found in the third wave. Saint- Preux leaves Clarens to accompany Edouard to Italy; in a 167 letter to Wolmar he reassures Julie's husband that he is cured and that his separation from them both has confirmed this for him. With his accustomed taste for excess, the hero gives all of the credit for his return to virtue to Wolmar. fhe hero exclaims: "J' £tais mort aux vertus ainsi au'au bonheur; je vous dois cette vie morale a laouelle je me sens renaltre. 0 mon bienfaiteur! o mon pere! " (V,viii,598). Saint-Preux has cast Wolmar in the father role, himself in the son role and remains intimida.ted by him and eager to please him. In addition, he accepts the responsibility for the education of Julie and vVolmar's children; the tutor becomes a kind of eldest son who will care for the family of his aging father. Saint-Preux*s desire to stay in para­ dise this time is contingent upon his being "cured," in con­ trol of his passion for the lady of the manor, and so he will go as far as making himself believe that he has changed in order to retain his position at Clarens. He must be a "good" boy. It has now fallen to the hero to console and advise Edouard. In this role, he vows to profit from his lessons at V/olmar* s knee. lie closes on the positive note that they will all be assembled one day and using the words of a lover he says that he hopes it will be "pour ne nous plus s^parer." rfhe following letter from Saint-Preux to Claire belies the optimistic diagnosis of recovery just expressed to V/olmar. This missive represents a near total reversal of position. It is clear that Saint-Preux's separation has affected him deeply; he and Edouard have stopped at the same inn where they stayed when he and Julie were violently separated for the first time. A flood of involuntary memories engulfs the hero and he has the disturbing dream that foreshadows Julie's death. So vivid and moving is the dream that the hero rushes back to Clarens to verify his former mistress's continued existence. His anxiety attack parallels the one he had on 168 his return to Julie from his long voyage; this time he is leaving his refuge and indeed he will never see Julie again. The fact that he only hears her voice and Claire's as they wa,lk in the Elys£e a.cts to reinforce their separation which is now permanent. A veil has been lowered between them just as the one that covered Julie's face in his dream. Actually while Sn.int~Preux's dream does serve to announce Julie's approaching demise, it also underscores his own inner feel­ ings of death. The dreamer does identify with the various people about whom he dreams; the hero sees both I/me d'Etange and Julie, and his buried sentiments of abandonment and hopelessness take form in his dream in the persons who are dead or dying. Both he and Julie have stated many times that without the other life is a kind of death. This feeling has only intensified since the boatride episode. A parallel can also be drawn between the heroine's delirious "dream" about her lover's death. At that time, Julie herself felt dead in­ side and projected her emptiness onto her lover. Because of the importance of Saint-Preux's premonition, it represents the final crest of emotion in book five. Claire's response has a reprimanding tone because she and Julie are deeply affected by their friend's dream and because he did not make his presence knovm when he returned briefly to the estate. Claire remains particularly troubled by the veil which covers her cousin's face in the dream and she cannot dispel secret feelings of dread: Depuis votre fatale lettre un serrement de coeur ne m'a pas nuitt£e; je n'approche point de Julie sans trembler de la perdre; a chaaue instant je crois voir sur son visage la paleur de la mort; et ce matin, la pressant dans mes bras, je me suis sentie en pleurs sans ssvoir pourouoi. Ce voile! ce voile! ...(V,x,607) Claire has obviously felt some of her alter ego's inner turmoil and renunciation but has tried to suppress a realization of it. Saint-Preux's letter only serves to re­ lease her own pent-up fears. 169

i/olmar's reactions to the hero's dream are recorded in letter eleven: he reassures his pupil that all is well at Clarens and that a dream of that sort is not an unusual occurrence. However, Wolmar does reproach Saint-Preux for thinking too much about Clarens and not enough about his mission in Italy, "Pensez le jour a ce cue vous allez faire a Rome, vous songerez moins la nuit a ce oui s'e3t fait a Vevai" (V,xi,609). Consciously or unconsciously, once again 'Wolmar seems to miss the point. Perhaps his ego will not allow him to contemplate or to face that he has miscalculated. Saint-Preux1 s brief letter to Wolmar about Milord Edouard* s complex love entanglements in Italy only serves to mirror the central theme of the book: passion must not triumph over reason. An alliance between the English peer and Laure is out of the ouestion in the hero's opinion: "... jamais Lauretta Pisana ne sera, ladi Bora3ton." After what he has suffered it is curious that the hero shows himself so willing to abort this affair of the heart. His reactions here reflects the imposing effect that the super-ego figure of Wolmar has had on the impressioiiable hero. The first and only letter from Julie follows this seem­ ingly innocuous report from Italy. Significantly, the hero­ ine proposes to her cousin that she marry their former preceptor. The psychological complexity of Julie's suggestion reveals the protagonist's state of desperation. Once again she is trying to resolve her emotional conflict by the imposi­ tion of superficial order. Julie fears that Claire and Saint-Preux are attract ad to one another. To verify her suspicions she writes to Claire to measure her reactions to the proposal. Although she is jealous, Julie also feels that such a marriage would accomplish many things: first of all it would erect yet another obstacle between her and her illicit desires, and secondly, it would serve to keep Saint- Preux near her forever but completely remove the possibility 170

of a relapse. Julie cannot betray Wolmar and her children much less her dearest friend. At the same time, it cannot be denied that the heroine would receive a vicarious thrill at the physical intimacy that would result from such a marriage. Claire is after all the closest person to Julie in the book. On the other hand, the heroine betrays her cruelty in this suggestion— she tries to manipulate the lives of others to save herself. Her proposal reechoes the insensitive methods employed by Wolmar to dominate others. What Julie does not realize is that she is not cold like her husband and if she were to maneuver both Claire and Saint- Preux into a marriage it would most certainly make her ex­ tremely unhappy in the end. Julie is guilty of projecting her own anxiety over the hero's return onto her cousin. Her long series of rhetorical ouestions on love and not being ashamed to admit when one is in love, uncovers the heroine's own conflicting emotions about these subjects. After this long tirade one can only reecho sentiments of Hamlet's mother that "the lady pro­ tests too much." The irony of Julie's dialectic is in­ escapable. When she asks: "Mais, Je te prie la honte est- elle d'lpouser celui au'on aime, ou de 1'aimer sans 1' Ipouser?" (V,xiii,620). Indeed, the auestion is admirably posed, but it applies to Julie not Claire— only she can'answer it truth­ fully. The proof that Julie is desperate and is using a kind of emotional blackmail with her cherished cousin comes when she states: "Que si, malgrl mes raisons, ce pro Jet ne te convient pas, mon avis est au'a quelque prix aue ce soit nous Icartions de nous cet homme dangereux, toujours redoutable a I'une ou §l 1'autre; car quoi au'il arrive, l'lducation de nos enfants nous importe encore moins que la vertu de leurs mires" (V,xiii,621-622). The statement has all the earmarks of an ultimatum and reveals Just how frightened the heroine is of herself. The easily led and 171 often weak hero has become "cet homme dangereux." Julie's tactic in the past wa.s to remove Saint-Preux whenever she felt too threatened by her desire for him. She has not changed. The closing letter of book five, Henriette's note to her mother, presents rather an anti-climax. A saccharine little missive, it does nonetheless shed some light on Julie's condition. Composed while "petite maman" was writ­ ing her dramatic letter to Claire, Henriette "innocently" re­ marks on Julie's appearance: "Je crois ou'elle a les yeux rouges, raais je n'ose le lui dire; mais en lisant ceci, elle verra bien oue je 1'ai vu" (V,xiv,623). Henriette proves to be correct in her assumption because Julie does not send the letter to Claire but keeps it for her return. As a result, the last letter must be considered to be Julie's impassioned plea to Claire to marry their tea.cher. It reveals the depth of the heroine's depression and the extent to which she feels mena.ced. The contra.sting symbols of part five serve to underscore the mounting tension between Julie's life as it is and the rupture that finally must come to release the tension. The need for meditation which masks the protagonist's desire to withdraw, is represented in the "salon d*Apollon" and in the "matinee a l'anglaise." Whereas th*3 commitment to Clarens and all that it signifies is reflected in the public scenes of the grape harvest. Trapped by the image she must maintain in the eyes of others and her inner sadness, the heroine pro­ jects yet another misalliance as a kind of resolution of her own conflict. Her threat to "banish" oaint-Preux again could only act as a warning signal to the other characters of her distress. Julie’s options have dwindled and she has truly entered a hopeless "huis clos" situation. 'Wolmar has proven to be not only negligent in his duties as a husband but emerges as weak. He seems only too eager to hand over responsibility for both his children and his wife 172

*to another.^ He has misunderstood the nature of the lovers' passion and he has bungled their "cure." The stage is set for the final tragic act. 173

POOTNOTKo

1 Rousseau himself provides a note on the origin to the name of Julie's private room: it is talcen from Plutarch's "Vie de Lucullus." p. 529 note 1. p Ronald Grimsley sees self-sufficiency as one of the ma.jor motifs of Rousseau's thought. He remarks: "i’he idea of self- sufficiency in reverie represents the end of Rousseau's long search for personal happiness in his last years...the theme plays an important part in the development of his general thought as well as his personal life." "Rousseau and the Ideal of Belf-Sufficiency," Studies in Romanticism, X (1971), p. 283-

JI.Iany of Rousseau's dearest ideas on education, later elabor­ ated in Emile, can be uncovered in this letter. Pomeau re­ minds us that several paragraphs from this letter are inserted in Emile with hardly any change, p. 566 note 1.

^Kore than one critic has commented upon the charged and often erotic nature of friendship in La Nouvelle Hdloise. Because of their desire to remain virtuous and thereby deny their sexual drives, the characters all value friendship highly. Jhile there is probably some latent homosexual attraction between the pairs of friends, Hans V/olpe goes as far as to suggest that Julie prefers Claire to Baint-Preux. He says: "The element of eroticism between the two cousins is not presented or ever even mentioned. It exists, however, for eroticism is part of total love, of a love such as the one Clp,ire feels for Julie, Julie who prefers Claire to Baint- Preux." "Psychological Ambiguity in La Nouvelle H^loise," University of Toronto Quarterly (AprTT 1959), p.289.

^In the Lettre a d'Alembert, written at the same time as the novel, Rousseau""exposes his ideas on public gatherings and "les fetes spontanles" which have social, religious and civic significance as opposed to what he sees as the passive role of the average Parisian theater-goer.

^One would have to admit that Rousseau's weak points in the novel all occur when he tries to depict relationships or feelings he has little or no experience with. The devoted husband never springs to life, nor do the children. The latter are flat and have little or no impact on the work. 174

CHAPTER VI DEATH

One of the most dramatic aspects of La Houvelle Hlloise is that it can end only one way— in death. While magically managing to give a different impression, Rousseau advances ouite irrevocably from passionate and illicit love and the temptation of adultery to the tragic denouement. The finale could hardly be a surprise to anyone who has been attentive to the various "clues" introduced from the first act of the love story. Julie's death seals the novel forever within the realm of the "roman sentimental" and indeed, sets the course the genre will take for many decades to come. Death unifies the novel; it represents a major theme in the work and touches all of the characters. Two of the principal preoccupations of book six, refuge and celibacy, remain intimately linked to the death motif. The former can be viewed as a kind of "safe" and temporary substitute for death and reappears in the many asylums available to the characters: Clarens, the Elys£e, the bosnuet, the "Salon d'Apollon," the convent (Laure1s choice in Italy) and even England. The latter substitute, celibacy, reflects the denial and privation which lead to death especially in Julie's case. Claire and Edouard both opt for celibacy as does Saint-Preux; Wolmar presents nothing more than an asexual image throughout the work, and the heroine gives up every­ thing in her choice of death as a solution to her inner strife. In this last section of the novel the letters take on a more intimate and even more confessional tone than they had heretofore. While total openness is not achieved by all, there does exist an honest desire to set things straight and to reconcile feelings with reason here. An examination of the disposition and number of letters will serve to uncover to what extent each character is given the opportunity to 175

open his heart to another or to all of the others; the breakdown of the thirteen letters follows: Claire to Julie 3 letters Julie to Saint-Preux 3 letters Saint-Preux to Julie 1 letter Claire to Saint-Preux 1 letter Edouard to 7/olmar 1 letter 7/olmar to Edouard 1 letter Wolmar to Saint-Preux 2 letters Panchon to Saint-Preux 1 letter Totals: Saint-Preux writes only one letter, Julie three, Claire four, Wolmar three, Edouard and Panchon one each. As in book five, the lovers no longer dominate the corre­ spondence but everything revolves around them and the issues of love, marriage and death take precedence. A symmetry exists among the letters in this part— ■ Claire begins and ends book six: she writes three letters to Julie and one to Saint-Preux, these letters are balanced by the heroine’s three letters to Saint-Preux and one to Claire, After a silence of seven years and three books, the heroine writes her last three letters to her former lover and none to any other character— not even Claire merits one. Her final energies are directed toward the hero. The only letter that Julie wrote in book five was her desperate attempt to block her desires regarding Saint-Preux through an arranged marriage. One could conclude that from the time of the promena.de on the lake Julie has been in a state of shock and has been obsessed with the hero and what course of action to follow. V/e have had to deduce her state of mind from what others have said about her and as has been shown, they all seem incapable of penetrating the "veil" which en­ velops her inner feelings. In effect, Julie has been dis­ appearing from the work from the end of part four. Edouard's role serves to accent the main plot line: his story of the Marquise and Laure proves to be a varia­ tion on the Julie-Saint-Preux dilemma. (An example of the Gidian "composition en abSme referred to ea,rlier). Panchon's reappearance adds unity because she plays a significant part 176 in book one and she becomes reconciled with her run-away husband, Claude Anet, just prior to Julie’s death, do loose ends are left. iVolmar has a more important mission in this part than he has had previously: he recounts his wife's last days and death to Haint-Preux in what is the longest letter in the novel. His moving but reasoned recapitulation of what happened affords a remarkable contrast with Julie’s emotional epistles. Llore than ever the wave motion of the correspondence emerges here; it follows the rise and fall of the lovers’ sentiments and misfortunes as well as the over-all mood of the novel's final passages. In addition, Saint-Preux com­ pares Julie and Claire's effect on him to the difference between the waves of the lake and the ocean. Julie's fall into the water and resulting des„th due to "exposure" accent the importance of the affective transposition of the inner turmoil of the main character— who controls the action— onto an external and natural phenomenon: the wave. Ironically, the opening letter of book six deals with a marriage: that of Claire's brother The "inseparable" has not as yet received her cousin's "proposal" letter so she displays a light, bantering mood that is auickly re­ placed by a more serious tone in her second missive. Intelli­ gently, Claire does not begin with Julie's outlandish idea but rather with the inappropriateness of another union: the one between Edouard and Laure. In commenting upon the un­ desirable alliance between their English friend and a re­ formed prostitute, Claire touches upon a delicate point which Julie could hardly help noting: "Je ne m^prise point Laure, a Dieu ne plaise! Au contraire, je 1'admire et la respecte d'autent plus au'un pareil retour est h£roique et rare" (VI, ii,627). Although Julie's "fall" has not been as grave as Laure's, Claire's remark stresses the precariousness and the 177 1 Reassurances R 1. . B AVES W . I I I V. IV II. Sau quo Status . A I. . eproaches R 2. A 1 (A) . esignation R 3. . r a e F 4. B2 ) 2 3) 2* (B B) ; B 9 ) (B4 8;

rarity of rehabilitation. The heroine, as we shall soon lcnow, has not been completely rehabilitated either. Claire's scolding tone i3 meant to discourage Julie from even enter­ taining the thought of receiving Laure at Clarens. In this regard, Cla.ire shows that she too is capable of cruelty and she concurs with the hero that Milord Edouard must never marry La.ure. Prom the possible misalliance in Italy Claire turns her thoughts to another one: the one projected between Saint-Preux and herself. She warns the heroine: "N*allons point nous perdre dans le pays des chimeres" (VI,ii,628). In her efforts to explain to Julie why a match between her­ self and their former preceptor could never work, Claire makes some rather subtle psychological distinctions and confessions about her own nature,'1' Claire explains that she "feels" through Julie; much like tfolmar, Claire displays O an emotionally parasitic nature.1" She admits: "Tous mes sentiments me vinrent de toi; toi seule me tins lieu de tout, et je ne v£cus nue pour etre ton araie" (VI,ii,628). The "alter ego" aspects of the cousins' relationship is revealed here. It would seem that Julie also is capable of experiencing or at least of imagining, similar sentiments because of her desire to marry off her two most intimate friends. Although Claire freely admits that her feelings toward Saint-Preux have altered somewhat since his return and that she does love him, she does not, however, love him passionately. Claire explains that her familiarity and her often teasing attitude toward the hero are her own "sauvegardes". Che says: "L'amitiS est prodigue, mais 1' amour est avare" (VI,ii,628). Claire shows an understanding of her own be­ havior and motivations when she avows that "cette gaiet£ oui collte 1'innocence a tant d'autres me I'a toujours conservie" (VI,ii,630). Phe vivacious cousin has in effect used her temperament as a veil of her own, an obstacle, 179 against emotional involvement. For the first and only time Claire admits her own sensuality when she sa.ys that at her age being a widow is not easy and that "les jours ne sont oue la moitil de la vie." It seems that the pattern of self-denial which Julie has adopted has been embraced "by her cousin too. Although the heroine's puritanical side would prevent her from making such an openly sexual avowal as Claire just has, she cannot be impervious to it. Julie's cousin renews her pledge to remain faithful to the memory of her husband and to spend the rest of her life in peace and not tormented by an unhappy passion. Contrary to her cousin's reaction, Claire feels safe when Saint-Preux is near her and tempted by him when he is absent. She has noticed that since his departure Julie is pale .and changed; it is clear that the heroine is suffering as she did in the past when she was separated from her lover. Claire returns to Saint-Preux's dream and admits that it has caused her come sleepless nights and some "terreurs paniaues." However, Claire feels somewhat reassured by the return of Julie's appetite when the latter has been assured that Saint-Preux and Edouard are almost ready to rejoin the community of friends. .Returning to the subject of marriage. Claire informs her friend that Jolmar has already suggested an alliance between her and Saint-Preux. This is yet another manifestation of V/olmar' s desire to control and experiment with the lives of others. He and his wife share this need. The succeeding letter is from Claire's male counterpart, Edouard, to .Volmar; in it Edouard recounts his own emotional traumas in Italy.^ Despite these pressing problems, the Englishman is still absorbed in observing the hero and his reactions which he dutifully reports to V/olmar. The intrigues, the spies and the disguises which make up the events that transpire in Italy, provide a contrast to the "transparence" 180 of Clarens. Both of the v/omen in Edouard's life, the marquise and Laure, finish by sharing Julie's fate: the former dies and the latter renounces her love for him and enters a convent. In a letter sent to Saint-Preux by Laure she describes herself as -unworthy to be Edouard's wife and in Cornelian fashion recites what she views as her duty to the English peer: "Le sacrifice de tout mon bonheur a un devoir si cruel me fa.it oublier la honte de ma jeunesse" (VI,iii,640). i'he parallel between Laure's fate and Julie's fate is quite apparent here; Laure does not die, as the hero­ ine soon will, but she realizes her "obligation" and fulfills it no matter how painful the sacrifice. Edouard now fefels cured of his passion and tells V/olmar that Saint-Preux has just exclaimed; "Le regne de 1'amour est pass£, que celui de 1'amitil commence; mon coeur n'entend plus rue sa voix sacrle,..." (VI, iii, 641). V/hile the state­ ment may be prophetic, it is quite clear that "amiti£" will never repls.ce "amour" in this novel. After his trial by fire in Italy, Edouard no longer feels compelled to marry and he discusses the pros and cons of celibacy. Previously he had regarded marriage as a duty to society but now he believes that the obligation to marry is not incumbent upon all. Celibacy is only "illicit" to the artisans, villagers and laborers; for those who dominate, the masters, it is perfect­ ly suitable. Edous.rd carries out the class distinctions and subtle prejudices that have already been noted at Clarens. He is the master and therefore "free;" the others must be constrained to do what is "useful" for the community and the species.4 The English lord informs Wolmar that he will join the community at Clarens and sends ahead plans for a pavilion he would like to construct there. This affords him the opportunity to comment upon books and music. He had decided to eliminate the music room because "tous mes goftts sont 1 8 1

€teints," but he changes his mind at Baint-Preux's insistence. Edouard sends some books to V/olmar although he admits: "I.Iais oue trouveres-vous de nouveau dans des livres?" (VI,iii,643)• rIhe state that the English peer finds himself in at this moment is hardly an enviable one. If the death of passion causes this type of reaction how could one want to be free from it? V/olmar, the most passion­ less character is also the least "alive" and real of the characters. And although Bousseau envisaged Julie's husband as a kind of incarnation of the sage or the philosopher per excellence, iVolmar (patterned after Holbach and Grimm), re­ mains a bloodless creation. A kind of neuter ouality in­ vades those who renounce their feelings in the novel. This last letter forms the crest of emotion in the first wave be­ cause of the disorder, confusion and death (Edouard's own temptation to succumb to passion) which it depicts. V/olmar's reply is at once supportive and reassuring; he seems relieved that at long last his English friend has resolved his sentimental difficulties and is ready to accept refuge at Clarens. V/olmar appreciates Edouard's views of celibacy and books. Both men have a curiously resigned attitude which is meant to pass for wisdom; the master of Glarens remarks: "Je vous remercie de vos livres: mais je ne lis plus ceux oue j'entends, et il est trop tard pour apprendre a lire ce oue je n'entends pos" (VI,iv,644). Another note of his less than transparent behavior is un­ covered when V/olmar admits that he has censored Edouard's letter: "J'ai dit a ma femme de votre lettre tout ce nu' elle en devait savoir" (VI,iv,644). Ihe heroine's husband's need for control asserts itself on many levels. I'he resolution of the first wave is given over to Claire and her description of the people and mores of Geneva which contrasts with the disorder of Edouard's sojourn in Italy. The virtuous order described by Claire replaces the 1 8 2

'ilots and intrigues of Edouard's milieu. The openness and frankness of the Genevans particularly impress the young widow: "Le Genevois est de tous les peuples du monde celui oui cache le moins son caractere et nu1 on connait le plus -oromptement" (VI,v,646)-^ Actually Claire's letter continues the critical tone set in book two: here Geneva, and its in­ habitants are praised for precisely the same nualities which Saint-Preux found lacking in the French— their moderation, their lack of nomp and opulence, the distance maintained be­ tween the sexes and their republican form of government. The subject of books also comes under Claire's scrutiny when she notes that "on n' anprend rien de bon dans les livres nu'on ne puisse apnrendre ici dans la conversation" (VI,v,646-647). The active example furnished by enlightened and varied con­ versation surpasses the more massive and somehow "dangerous" occupation of reading. The G.enevan women also fare much better than their French counterparts: they are simple, have grace and taste and Claire nuiclcly links this latter Duality to virtue: "Le meilleur gout tient a la vertu; il disparait avec elle, et fait place a un gout factice et guind6, oui n'est plus oue 1'ouvrage de la mode" (VI,v,649). Claire confirms that her cousin's system of separation of the sexes is practiced as well in Geneva; Julie's idea of "s'abstenir pour jouir" reigns in the little republic. A mild criticism of the Genevan surfaces when Claire remarks upon his love of money. However, she adds: "Queloue avide nu'il puisse etre, on ne le voit guere aller a la fortune par des moyens oerviles et ba,s; il n* aime point s' attacher aux grands et ramper dans les cours" (VI,v,650). Claire's letter closes on a pleasant note as she recounts some of the festivities connected with her brother's wedding. Letter six covers a broad sweep of emotions; it is Julie's first letter to Saint-Preux in seven years (since 183

III,xx), and despite Claire's refusal the moment at which Julie offers her cousin to her former lover in marriage. The heroine reveals her exhilaration at being able to write to Saint-Preux without guilt or fear. Julie feels triumphant in her efforts to metamorphose their passion into friendship and remarks: "On gtouffe de grandes passions; rarement on les £pure" (VI,vi,652). The two verbs, "£touffer" and 11 £purer" reveal more about Julie's inner struggle than the entire let­ ter: she has "smothered" her passion and she feels that in doing so she has succeeded in "purifying" it. Purification through sacrifice appeals to the heroine and she invariably eouates privation or repression with virtue. Julie attributes the greater part of this "triumph" to v/olmar's efforts rather than to her own and to Saint-Preux's sacrifices. She then prepares her marriage proposal with a few introductory re­ marks about oaint-Preux's youth, his passionate nature and the difficulty of remaining chaste with his temperament,^ Curiously, Julie uses the third person throughout in des­ cribing the above young man; it is almost as if she cannot bear to name him, to say "vous" or to directly associate the sex drive she is discussing with him. How can she really want to hand him over to a new mistress? The many rhetorical nuestions she noses, her raking uo of the young man's east weaknesses (l.ieillerie, Paris, the boatride) all reveal a mounting fear on the heroine's part. Uhe has projected her anxiety onto its object. Julie's own sense of no escape, her own existential anxiety, come to the foreground here. She asks: "Qui est-ce oui sait triompher de lui-raeme jusnu'a la mort?" and she betrays her own feelings of being trapped when she cries: "Croyez-vous oue les monuments a craindre n'existent ou'a Meillerie? Ils existent partout ou nous sommes; car nous les portons avec nous" (VI,vi,655). Julie needs no reminder of her passion for Saint-Preux because it remains constantly with her. Actually the protagonist's 184 dilemma can be interpreted as a cry for help and as a warning. Desperation is driving her to break what is for her an intolerable status nuo in their relationship. She contemplates this union with Glaire, banishment and finally 7 suicide because she knows the former two cannot work. The heroine expresses her own ideas on celibacy and is convinced that it represents an unnatural state; as she views it, celibacy can only bring "cuelcue d£sordre public ou cach6." Che criticizes the Catholic clergy for its "dishonest" vow of celibacy and its "hypocrisy." The hero­ ine continues with a litany of her duties: "Quoi! toujours des privations et des peines! toujours des devoirs cruels a remplir! toujours fuir les gens cui nous sont chers!" (VI,vi,657). The repetition of "tou,jours" three times accents the heroine's sense of desperation; "always" is a long time and she is the one who stresses it. Julie lays a trap for her former lover when she tells him that he knows about her cousin's vow never to remarry and that before try­ ing to change Claire's mind in the matter Julie declares: "Je dois m'assurer de vos dispositions." Indeed, the mistress of Clarens seeks to uncover any feelings of love that her former precentor may harbor for her cousin. In a psycho­ logically veiled way Julie offers herself to the hero when she asks: "N'est-ce pas aussi Julie nue je vous donne?" (VI,vi,658). And once again Julie reveals her own fears when she says to him: Voila, mon ami, le moyen que j'imagine de nous r6unir sans danger, en vous dormant dans notre famille la meme place cue vous tenes dans nos coeurs. Dans le noeud cher et sacr6 cui nous unira tous, nous ne serons plus entre nous cue des soeurs et des freres. Vous ne serez plus votre propre ennemi ni le notre; les plus doux sentiments, devenus legitimes, ne seront plus dangereux; ouand il ne fa.udra plus les €touffer, on n'aura plus a les craindre. (VI, vi,659) 1 8 5

It is Julie who chooses the words "danger," "dangereux," "ennerai," "6touffer" and "craindre;" it is she who fears and is guilty of bad faith for shifting her own feelings onto her friends. The protagonist uses emotional black­ mail here, as she has in the past, when she warns Saint- Preux to reflect carefully on her project before answering. fhe last part of Julie* s letter marks an attempt to resolve the hysteria of her own state in a discussion of prayer. Her long diatribe on the positive aspects of prayer only underscores her unsettled condition. She generalizes the dilemma she feels to that of all men and wonders where we can get the strength and light to overcome our weaknesses if not from the source of all strength, God. Hy accenting the greatness of God and the smallness of man and his prob­ lems, Julie tries to minimize and even demean her own struggle. Aware of the many changes to which mortals are subjected, the heroine lucidly touches uoon her own situation when she asks in closing: Qui sa.it si nous aimerons ce sue nous aimons, si nous voudrons ce sue nous voulons, si nous serons ce sue nous sommes, si les objets Strangers et les alterations de nos cores n'auront pas autreraent modifi6 nos ames et si nous ne trouverons pas notre rnisere dans ce oue nous aurons arrange pour notre bonheur? (Vi,vi,66l) The "oui sa.it" and the series of "if" clauses show Julie's uncertainty about her decisions, past and present, and especially about the project to have Saint-Preux marry Claire. Incapable of reconciling her interior and exterior existence, the heroine remains unsure about all of her actions. Her desire to resolve her distraught situation in prayer does not succeed because of her many doubts; in this way, the heroine's barely concealed hysteria in this letter is transformed into a superficial order which reflects the artificial solution Julie hopes to impose through her control of Saint-Preux and Claire. 1 8 6

The hero's reply follows the same outline as his former mistress' s letter. Transported because he has received a letter from Julie after so many years, Saint- Preux then proceeds to discuss in turn marriage, celibacy and prayer. Point for noint the hero's arguments are much more logical and well thought out than Julie's. He proves to be lucid about their past and present situations. He cries: "0 Julie! il est des impressions ^ternelles nue le temps ni les soins n'effacent point. La blessure gu^rit, msis la maroue reste" (VT,vii,663). The hero explains to Julie that he can never be inconstant: their love remains unioue. Although he too admits: "Nous avons beau n' etre plus les memes, je, ne puis oublier ce oue nous avons £t£" (VI,vii,663). As for Gla.ire, Saint-Preux does love her but not with the enthusiasm and "idolatry" with which he worships Julie. He confesses his own dilemma and feelings of helplessness when he describes himself as being caught between two women whom he loves in different ways. In a long-Saudelairian apostrophe to women he calls them "abime de douleurs et de volupt^s" and he expresses his lack of self-determination when he refers to himself as one canght in a storm or buffeted by waves. The hero continues the watery image to describe his "6tat d' ame" in this situation: Kris nuelles agitations diverses vous avez fait Svrouver a mon eoeur! Celles du lac de Geneve ne ressemblent plus aux flots du vaste Oc£an. L'un n 1 a nue des ondes vives et courtes dont le perp^tuel tranchant agite, £meut, submerge nuelnuefois, sans jamais former de longs cours. Mais sur la mer, trannuille en apparence, on se sent SlevSf port£ doucement et loin ear un flot lent et presaue insensible; on croit ne pas sortir de la place, et 1'on arrive au bout du monde. (VI,vii,664) It is in this lyrical manner that the hero depicts the effects of Claire, the waves of Lake Geneva, and Julie, 187

the waves of " I f ? mer" on his being. Like Hdouard, the hero believes that because of his unhappy experiences with passionste love, because of his suffering, that all of his desires are extinguished. Saint-Preux seems puzzled by Julie's determination to force him from his newly found "happy" state into one of uncertainty. Jhy does she wish to bsnish him just at the moment when he feels he has D merited staying? The hero intuits a deeper reason for his former mistress's alarms he questions Julie's fears when ,/olmar himself harbors no such feeling. Caint-Preux believes he has two souls and that the "good" one remains with Julie; as a result he feels pen.ce and serenity only in her presence, deferring to Julie's home as "le temple de la vertu" he reassures her that he could never trouble "cet ordre aimable." The hero also hastens to inform Julie of his decision to decline marriage to Claire for reasons not unlike those offered by "I*inseparable" herself. The unioue ouality of their friendship is stressed; Saint-Preux has no desire to exchange his title of "ami tendre" for that of "mari vulgaire." He adds ironically: "Je 1'aime trop pour 1' 6pouser" (VI,vii,667). The hero realizes that the bond which he and Claire share is their mutual love for Julie; as man and wife they would become strangers, unable to discuss their favorite subject. The hero, like Claire, values his freedom and his independence and is loa.th to lose either one. Just as Julie's letter was an indirect avowal of love so too is the hero's. He reminds her: Julie^ oubliates-vous mes serments avec les votres? Pour moi je ne les ai point oubli£s. J*ai tout perdu; ma foi seule m'est rest^e; elle me restera jusou' au tombeau. Je n'ai pu vivre a vous; je mourrai libre. (VI,vii,668) V/hatever the heroine's suspicions may have been, it is clear that Saint-Preux, in courtly fashion, is and will remain her constant and eternal lover. The hero follows 1 8 8 his renewed declaration of devotion with a long existential passage in which he begs Julie not to try to pull him out of the "an^antissement" in which he has been existing. As he and the heroine have often reiterated, without the other both feel dead. For the remainder of his letter daint-Preux pres.ch.es to Julie about the dangers of seeing monsters and "chimerec" where they do not exist; he also suggests that a temptation exists on her part toward a ouietistic religious view. His own opinion of God* s plan for man is most eloouently ex­ pressed when he notes: "II nous a donn£ la raison pour connaitre ce oui est bien, la conscience pour 1' aimer, et la liberty pour le choisir" (VI,vii,671).^ "liaison," "conscience" and "libert£" can certainly be taken as key words through which to interpret La Nouvelle H^loise and all of Rousseau's oeuvre. daint-Preux launches a discussion of liberty which is particularly poignant given the lack of freedom which he himself has: he is completely enthralled by Julie. The philosopher-teacher bases his belief about freedom on a, "feeling" (un sentiment) as well as his belief in God.^ The hero concurs with Julie that prayer is one of the greatest ressources against man's weaknesses, but he believes that rather than God changing mam, it is man who changes himself in his efforts to raise himself up toward 11 God. Once again daint-Preux warns against excess in prayer and all fanaticism; he seems particularly concerned about the former in regard to Julie's behavior. He exhorts her not to become a "devote." As he sees it, virtue has strengthened rather than weakened the ties which bind them. Saint-Preux assures Julie that even if he were never to see her again she would always be with him and always hold sway over his actions. In his own subtle way he also pre­ sents the heroine with an ultimatum when in closing he de­ clares: "Pour moi, j'aime mieux ne vous plus voir oue de 189 vous revoir pour vous dire un nouvel adieu. Apprendre a vivre chez vous en Stranger est une humiliation nue je n' ai pas m£rit£e" (VI,vii,675). Saint-Preux has changed? his refusal to resume a discarded and debasing role (I1 Stranger) shows that he has mstured and thnt he can see their relationship in a better perspective than he did previously. The hero seems willing to renounce any kind of "normal" existence in order to remain near his love, r'/hat he does not realize at all is the extent of Julie's own weakness v/hich remains concealed by the veil that neither he nor Jolmar nor Glaire has been able to penetrate. The heroine's hysteria continues to mount and bursts forth in her angry and insulting reply to daint-Preux which begins the ascent of the final crescendo of emotion in the novel. The tone of letter eight harkens back to the dacininn one used so often by Julie at the work*s opening. Ghe calls him "ingrat" again and cruelly asks: "Mon cher philosouhe, ne cesserez-vous jamais d'etre enfant?" (VI, viii,675). Usually when Julie's will is blocked she be­ comes suite abusive and here she tries to debase her former lover. At these moments she displays the mean streak in her nature. All the while that she heaps a.buse on daint- Preux for his "ingratitude" and "ignorance" she also in­ forms him that the last six months (since his return) have been among the happiest of her life. Ghe even feels that death would not be unwelcome now because she has had such lovely experiences during this period. Nothing could be further from the truth. Julie knows that the inner tension that she ha.s managed to dissimulate over this time cannot be sustained. Her reactions are excessive now and reveal the rupture that is taking place within her. Unable to accept his decision to remain a bachelor, Julie suggests that perhaps the hero should travel for a few years before returning to Clarens in order to rid himself of the "restes 190

toujours suspects d1une jeunesse imp^tueuse." Then the heroine makes yet mother curious proposal: she offers to send Saint-Preux one of her sons. In effect, she wants so much to give him a part of herself (or herself), and to hold onto him, that she entertains this desperate notion. She admits that upon their return she would hardly know which one she would he happier to see. In other words, even if Julie does succeed in exiling the hero once again, to assure his eventual return she will entrust one of her children to his cs.re; in addition, she will he ahle to disguise her joy at their reunion hecause they hoth v/ill have been missed. For two such "devoted" parents v/olmar and Julie seem always mite ready to hand over the respon- 12 sihility for their offspring to others. If Saint-Preux is to leave Clarens in order to finish cowing the wild oats of youth, it seems rather inappropriate to have a small hoy accompany him on this "ouest." Julie would substitute the talisman of part two with a live remembrance and re­ minder of her existence. Che cannot let go of her former lover. The heroine deeply resents daint-Preux's notion that she is in danger of becoming a. "devote," and she formulates n whole theory of the relationship between happiness and desire which is nuite paradoxical but which pinpoints her inner strife: Tant nu*on desire on neut se passer d'etre heureux; on s'attend a le devenir: si le bonheur ne vient point, 1'esooir se prolonge, et le charme de 1'illusion dure autant nue la passion nui la cause. ...Malheur a nui n'a plus rien a d£sirer! il perd pour ainsi dire tout ce nu'il possede. (vi,viii,63l) What becomes auite apparent here is that Julie thinks she is happy because she can no longer desire, or rather bear to live with her desire; she wants that which will always re­ main forbidden to her. Hope is gone. The "charm" of the "illusion" is gone. Che v/ill never be able to reconcile her 191

interior desires and her exterior existence; she knows this now and she has nothing left to desire because what she really wants will destroy her. "Kalheur" describes her situation perfectly. The heroine announces her own demise when she says: "Le pays des chimeres est en ce monde le seul digne d’etre habits, et tel est le n£snt des choses humoines, nu'hors I'Ktre existant oar lui-meme il n’y a, rien de beau oue ce oui n'est pas" (VI,viii,682). Julie's fantasy world, "le pays des chimferes," no longer offers her a viable option; her real world, Clarens, does not give her the comfort she needs either. The cne important nuestion that remains . to be or not to be, has been decided. Julie chooses the negative response. The heroine in her usual lucid manner clarifies her unconscious decision to die; the antitheses are striking: Voila ce nue j'£prouve en pnrtie depuis mon ma.riage et depuis votre retour. Je ne vois partout nue sujets de contentement, et je ne suis pas contente; une langueur secrete s'insinue su fond de mon coeur; je le sens vide et gonfl£, comme vous disiez autrefois du votre; 1'attachement nue j'ai pour tout ce nui m* est cher ne suffit pas pour l’occuper; il lui reste line force inu­ tile dont il ne snit nue fnire. Cette peine est bizarre, j'en conviens; mais elle n*est pas moins r£elle. mon ami, je suis trop heureuse; le bonheur m ’ennuie. (VI,viii, 682)13 The contradictory feelings which invade the heroine, the implicit "shoulds" in her description (she "should" be happy but she is not, she "should" be satisfied at Clarens, she "should" have enough to occupy her days and her heart) of her inner state, her languid condition, all betray her despair and sadness. The famous culminating and elociuently paradoxical line on happiness and boredom distills Julie’s conflict. She "should" be happy; the exterior points to a "happy ever after" ending. In reality, Julie is _in extremis; she remains deeply disturbed and unhappy with the failure of things and of others to make her life bearable. The protago- 192 nist languishes for lack of nourishment for her inner needs, her inner life— her soul. It is no longer, and never has been, physical satisfaction only that Julie lacks. Her soul as well as her body has been intimately engaged in her love for daint-Preux; by rupturing their relationship she caused a permanent wound within herself that has never healed, fhe hero's proximity in the last months has only served to reopen the wound that she thought had healed or that she hoped had disappeared. At this important juncture, doussea.u himself points out: "j'avoue nue cette lettre me para.it le chant du cygne" (p.682). Julie has not been happy; she has deluded herself for a long time and the moment of truth is approaching rapidly, dhe admits that her "d£gout du bien etre" strikes her as unreasonable and an involuntary feeling which has taken the importance of life from her. "h^go&t" is a. strong word' which almost seem "wrong" in the protagonist's mouth, but which underlines the metaphysical and existential side of her res.liza.tion of her state. Julie does not become a mystic but she certainly does aspire to nuench her thirst in the absolute. 8he seeks eternal refuge; she wants safety and peace at any cost and she now is ready to pay the ultimate price for them: death. Prayer appears to be the heroine's only consolation and she has become rather morbid about V/olmar's continued atheism. The latter factor only adds to Julie’s acute despair; some­ how she feels that she has failed a.nd part of her wants to offer a supreme and inspirrtional example to her husband, designed never to be able to convince ./olmnr through reason, Julie hopes to "touch" him: "j'y consacre le reste de ma vie; ce n 1est plus de le convaincre, mais de le toucher; c'est de lui montrer un. exemple nui l'entraine, et de lui rendre la religion si aimable nu' il ne puisse lui rlsister" (VI,viii, 689). Julie engages Saint-Preux to help her in this noble 193 task; once again, after ell of her projects to rid herself of him, she tries to keen him with, her under any oretext. In addition to this new enterprise, Julie mentions that she has also had his nuarters redecorated and that she h^s personally overseen the work so that he will be pleasantly surprised on his return. How could daint-Preux fail to notice his former mistress'c contradictory behavior? The letter closes on an ominous note when Julie mentions their forthcoming visit to the chateau of Chillon and wishes that she were already back home. The heroine's presentiment of danger is nuickly followed by Fanchon's slightly incoherent letter describing her mistress's accident at Chillcn. The servant recounts the heroine's "fall" or rather her "plunge" into the water to save her son’s life.^ Letters ten, eleven and twelve form the crescendo of emotion here: ten and eleven respectively announce and recapitulate the protagonist's death— the first, perhaps the shortest missive in the novel, introduces the second which is the longest. Letter twelve, Julie's final one, is addressed to Sa„int-Preux and represents the emotional high point of the novel. It rests with Claire to "resolve" the work in letter thirteen. It seems only fitting that she have the last word inasmuch as she has been cast in the role of the heroine's alter ego and intermediary between the lovers from the beginning. Referring to daint-Preux's dream which presages Julie's death, Claire calls him a "visionnaire" in the brief letter begun by her and finished by V/olmar (ten). Julie's husband commands the scene as he slowly unravels the events that led to his wife's death and reweaves them into a coherent tableau 1 r of suffering, death and apotheosis. •./olmnr's steady account has a ouiet dignity which serves to enhance all of Julie's unioue oue„lities as a. human being. She emerges in her many roles as friend, wife, mother and benefactress. 194

There is little doubt thr.t Wolmar's detailed re-enact­ ment of what transpired at Glarens gives a sense of gravity to the situation which complements Julie's tra.gic letter and the resigned emptiness of Claire's. V/olmar'c observer role continues to the end. After the a.ccident and once back at Clarens, Julie's preparations for death take on a frenetic pace, Bhe expresses particular concern for the children's education and especially stresses instructions for Henriette's regime. It has been evident that the heroine identifies with this child just as others have been ouick to type Henriette as r second Julie. In this case, Julie undoubtedly hopes to ward off any negative influences that the child might come under in order that she avoid meeting the same unhacpy fate as her "petite maman." V/olmar realizes that Julie's animated state during this period signals that "elle se voit morte." Once the doctor has determined that Julie will not re­ cover, V/olmar, while deciding how to inform her of this awful verdict, feels moved and auestions his own disbelief for the first time. Contrary to expectation, it is Julie who comforts everyone and tries to make her separation from them easy. The secret reappears again in that Julie does not as yet want Claire to know the truth about her condition, dhe will choose the proper time to break the unhappy nev/s to her cousin. True to her nature to the very end, Julie stage- manages her own death. Even the minister seems touched by Julie's frank view of life and death and he believes that he has learned from her; transnorted, he tells the heroine: "Madame, votre mort est aussi belle nue votre vie: vous avez vficu nour la charity; vous mourrez martyre de 1'amour maternel" (VI,xi,705). In some respects the minister is right: Julie does die because she refuses to break her marriage vows or be found lacking in her duty toward her children. Because of Julie's lack of fear and indeed her almost 195

joyous embrace with death, iVolmar begins to feel uneasy; he thinks she welcomes their separation: "Vous vous rSjouissez de mourir; vous etes bien aise de me emitter. Hs.ppelez-vous la conduite de votre Ipoux depuis nue nous vivions ensemble; ai-je m£rit£ de votre part un sentiment si cruel" (VI,xi,707). It seems to me that the answer to that nuestion can only be affirmative, ,■'7olmar, s intuition is correct here: Julie does want to leave him. He has behaved cruelly on many occasions and in some ways his wife is repaying his lack of consideration for her per.ee of mind. Julie does not admit this consciously but replies to his accusation with a non-answer: "II est vrai, je meurs contente; mais e'est de mourir comme j'ai vicu, digne d'etre votre Spouse" (VI,xi,708). This Cornelian reply does not mask Julie's pleasure a.t finally relieving herself of the necessity of struggling against her inner self. She is happy to be rid of the burden; she has "enshrined" her virtue for­ ever. During Julie's last days Fanchon's estranged husband, Claude Anet, returns to beg his wife’s forgiveness and to effect a reconciliation with her. This event touches the heroine deeply and it causes her to remember fondly her youth and the circumstances of their marriage. The latter event precipitates a. recapitulation of the heroine's life. It seems more like a. public confession in which Julie enjoys indulging herself. Her lack of sadness upsets the others but she main­ tains a Christ-like ambience by telling them: "je ne vous nuitte pas, pour ainsi dire, je reste avec vous; en vous laissant tous unis, mon esprit, mon coeur, vous demeurent" (VI,xi,714). The minister returns and he and Julie discuss the fate of the soul after death and the resurrection of the body. The heroine does not share all of the clergyman's beliefs and tends toward a more Platonic interpretation of the fate of the soul after death rather than the strictly Protestant view.1^ Y/hen 1 9 6 the minister declares that the happy soul's only concern v/ill be the glory of God end that its contemplation v/ill erase all other memories, Julie feels that her happiness v/ill consist in having a good conscience and remembering her earthly life: "je me souviendrai d1avoir habitd la terre, j'aimerai ceux oue j'y ai aira£s" (VI,xi,717). The heroine reveals a.n attachment to her terrestrial existence and a strong desire to remember it in suite of Christian dogma. Julie in a kind of Last Cupper scene, invites her family to take their evening meal in her bedroom— not only is a. special wine served but also one of Julie's favorite fish is prepared. ,/olmar comments with amazement: "lille eut app^tit." The others begin to have hope that their idol may recover; Claire in particular is carried away and in her rush to embrace Julie's doctor for his "cure" she overturns several chairs. The disorder of Claire's behavior has been steadily mounting; she has not changed her clothes in days and refuses to leave the protagonist's side. In fact, Claire not Jolmar has been sleeping in Julie's bed in the evenings. The effect on the "inseparable" has been grue- somely debilitating: she awakens each morning pale and drawn as if Julie has absorbed the strength of her cousin. On'the morning that Julie expires Jolmar reports that he hears "des g£missements" and rushes into his v/ife's room only to discover the two women locked in an embra.ee— Claire fainting and Julie dying. Upon realising tha.t her friend is dead, Claire goes into a state of fury: she rolls on the floor, gnaws the furniture and repeatedly flings herself on 17 the heroine's inert body. V/olmar is forced to leave the scene to inform the baron of his daughter's death; when he returns a wild rumor has spread that the mistress of Clarens has revived from her deathlike "sleep." (Volmar realizes that the servants' love 197 for Julie and their superstitious natures have combined to cause this furor. Upon a.poroaching his wife's bier, ./olmar notes that her body has already begun to decay; Claire places a veil given to Julie by da.int-Preux over her cousin's altered features. The circle closes rapidly. Julie is buried with the veil in place. After his wife's burial Wolrnnr' s primary concern is Claire's state of mind; he speaks of her condition as passionate excess and in his puerile efforts to console her he dresses Henriette to look like Julie and they dine in the salon d'Apollon. Pre­ dictably Claire reacts violently to this ruse: she eats like a mad woman and then becomes nauseated from it. Even at such a delicate moment, Wolmar continues his insidious games. He seems incapable of fathoming human hurt or indeed any other emotion. When he finally realizes his error he re­ marks: "Des ce moment je r^solus de supprimer tous ces jeux, vui pouvaient allumer son imagination nu point nu'on n*en serait plus maitre" (VI,xi,727). Even V/olmar uses the word " jeux" to describe his cruel little experiment. He has dis­ covered the seriousness of his actions too late. Alone and feeling old, Wolmnr implores daint-Preux to rejoin him as soon as possible; in a role reversal, he asks the young man to "cure" him: "Venez partager et gu€rir mes ennuis: je vous devrai peut-etre plus cue personne" (VI,xi,728). The dead heroine's letter presents still another side 1 R of the story and offers a contrast to V/olmar's controlled missive. The fatality which has marked Julie's letters from the outset of the novel reappears here with considerable iq % force. Prom the first line, "II faut renoncer a nos pro jets," the protagonist's sense of doom is uncovered. Julie knows that she has deluded herself about her "cure" and her confession to daint-Preux is tantamount to a. renewed declaration of love: Je me suis longtemps fait illusion. Cette illusion me fut salutaire; elle se d^truit 198

au moment rue je n1en ai plus besoin. Vous m 1 nvez cru gu£rie, et j's.i cru I'etre. Rendons graces a. celui aui fit durer cette erreur rutrnt ^u'elle 5tait utile: nui sa.it si, me voya.nt si pres de l'abirnc, la tete ne m' eut point tournd? Oui, j'eus beau vouloir 6touffer le premier sentiment aui m1a frit vivre, il s'est concentre dans mon coeur, II g'y reveille au moment ru'il n'est plus a cra.indre; il me soutient nuand mes forces m' abandonnent; il me rrnime nuand je me meurs, Lon ami, je fais cet aveu sans honte; ce sentiment rest! malgr£ moi fut involontaire; il n 1 a rien coutd a mon innocence; tout ce aui depend de ma volont£ fut pour mon devoir: si le coeur aui n'en depend pas fut pour vous, ce fut mon tourment et non pas mon crime. J'ai fait ce aue j'a.i du fa ire; la vertu me reste sans tache, et 1'amour m'est rest£ sans remords. (VI,xii,728-729). The repetition of key vocabulary which has haunted Julie's prior letters to daint-Preux should be noted, however, the context has now shifted considerably and thereby heightens the dramatic effect of the words. The heroine's illusion can now be discarded; as she faces death Julie can afford to drop the veil which she has maintained for so many years. By ad­ mitting that, rather than disappearing because of repression, her love has become distilled, and that it is the force of love that animates her even in death, Julie at long last practices the honesty that she so prises. All secrets melt away and the woman stands revealed in a passion that now seeks fulfillment in the absolute. Julie has triumphed over p a the vulgar. Her example remains uplifting in that she has struggled and won on this one level. Nonetheless, on the in­ ternal level she has failed. Julie has preserved her virtue 21 at the price of her life. It is not a nuestion of being weak or strong, but rather of endurance of a special sort: the duration of Julie's love coincides with her inner struggle. • * She realizes that her will and her reason hold no sway over a feeling she experiences as "involontaire." Julie has managed to keep both her passion and her virtue intact; in 199

this way, she dies feeling no remorse. The only catch re­ mains enveloped in the phrase, "un jour de plus peut-etre, et j' £tais coupable" (VI,xii,729). In c, moment of supreme clarity, Julie admits: "dsns doute je sentais pour moi les craintec oue je croyais oentir pour vous" (VI,xii,729). Her classic cr.se of projection of her own fears onto her lover explains her desperate attempts to control his fate. The heroine freely admits that she has felt dead for a long time: "Apr&s ta.nt de sacrifices, je compte pour peu celui oui me reste a faire: ce n*est aue mourir une fois de plus" (VI,xii, 729).22 The protagonist leaves many tasks to fill the life of her former lover: her children's education, ./dinar's conver­ sion and Claire's future. Julie hopes to control the hero's life even beyond the grave. Her guilt and desire for punish­ ment is underscored in a graphic remark to the man who loved her: 11 Juand tu verras cette lettre, les vers rongeront le visage de ton smante et son coeur ou tu ne seras plus1' (VI, xii,73l). Ohe tortures herself as well as daint-Preux with this statement. In her last moments Julie uses the 11 tu" to address her former lover. All disguise dropped, the heroine's final heartbreaking declara.tion of eternal love is pronounced: i.ion ami, je ne te auitte pas, je vais t'attendre. La vertu nui nous s6para sur la terre nous unira dans le s£jour Sternel. Je meurs dans cette douce attente: trop heureuse d'acheter au prix de ma vie le droit de t'aimer toujours sans crime, et de te le dire encore une fois! (VI,xii,731) Curiously, but not untypically, the heroine has completely ignored the Christian view of Heaven; the Bible states: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor a.re given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven" (lie.tthew 22:30). In her agony, relieved of all necessity to dis­ simulate, Julie believes that she will be reunited in some way or other with her uninue love. She intends to wait for him. In the long course of the novel Julie has not changed. 2 0 0

Her initial avowal of undying love has withstood many 2 ^ tests; her passion has triumphed over time. J It burns us ardently now us it did when she was p. young girl; it has become an absolute m d takes on tragic dimensions as Julie escapes into the final refuge. Julie's demise signals the figurative death of the two characters closest to her; in ways, drint-Preux has been "dead" for some time; he himself has used the word "anlantissement" to describe his state. Iiow Claire, in the closing letter of the novel, discloses an emptiness that betrays her own inner death. She needs daint-Preux to com­ fort her and she urges him to join her before the winter cuts off the mountain passes. A series of imperatives with "venez" repeated four times underlines her urgency. Claire also tells her former tutor that "vous trouverez en ce pays 2 A l'air nui vous convient" (VI,xiii,731). Just as Julie was unable to derive pleasure from her life, her children, her husband and her duties, Claire feels desolate and alone in the midst of everyone. Che is haunted by Julie's memory and desires nothing more than to join her lost friend. Once and for all Claire snuelches any notion of marriage between her­ self and daint-Preux, and she makes it nuite clear that the only bond which unites them is their mutual love for the dead heroine. A "nrecheuse" to the end, Claire reminds him of the many duties that await him at Clarens. All joy has vanished and the bleak picture that remains is that of the surviving characters— all celibate— passing their days to­ gether fulfilling their dismal duties. In effect, the en­ chanted garden, their utopia, has diminished, if not dis­ appeared, with the death of the protagonist. do profound is Claire's sense of loss that she fantasizes that she hears Julie calling her, imploring her cousin to come to her. Feeling mutilated herself, Claire cries out: "don cercueil ne la contient pas tout enti£re...il attend le reste de sa 2 0 1

proie...il ne 1'r.ttendrr pas longtemps" tVI,xiii,733 J . It seems nuite fitting thrt the Irst word of the book be "longtemps." Time has played a key role in it and has contributed enormously to its effect. Twelve years have 2 R elapsed from the opening to the closing letters; the dramatic tension of the main character's inner strife has sustained the work and it resolves on a tragic chord. Ho one is happy, no one has been very happy and it seems un­ likely that anyone will be happy. Conspicuous by its absence is daint-Preux's reaction to Julie's death, liousseau exercised a good deal 'ctf restraint and taste by not including it. ,/olmer and Claire’s letters are grave, tragic epistles; daint-Preux1s could never be. The author rejects pathos and wisely allows the reader to imagine his own letter. Panta.sy is given free reign. In addition, not halving the lover’s reaction accents the notion that he too has been annihilated (a.n^a.nti) as both lovers have often referred to themselves in the past. His loss de­ fies description. If Claire feels that only half of Julie's remains are in the shroud, daint-Preux1s feelings must be more desperate. In this case, the hero’s silence conveys more emotion than any impassioned letter could. The poignan­ cy of his silence enhances the tragedy of the doomed lovers. This section of the novel has the fewest number of sym­ bols. Certainly It^ly and Geneva can be opposed on a. moral level: Edouard's involvement in Italy and the cloak and dagger atmosphere that surrounds it contrasts with the open, happy reports of Geneva and its inhabitants. The marriage celebrated in the ideal republic can also be juxtaposed with the fiasco in Italy. The single symbol that carries great importance and has appeared early in the novel, only to re- appear at the conclusion with intensified force, is the veil. At the same moment that Julie finds herself able figurative­ ly to drop the veil 'which has masked her feelings, she is a.lso 2 0 2

enshrouded by it. It separates her from the others for­ ever. The flimsy subotrnce represents the lovers' eternal separation and the permanent state of absence. For Julie the moment of truth converges with the moment of death. The paradoxical significnnce of the recurring image of the veil only serves to nccentunte the nearly insoluble intern­ al struggle which the novel has depicted. Julie becomes free enough to divulge her secret only at the moment of death. 203

FOOTNOTEB

^itousseau was very lucid about the position he often found himself in between two women and his different feelings to­ ward them. In the Confessions there were Mile Goton and Mile Vulson about whom he says: "J' abordais Mme de Vulson avec un plaisir tres vif mais sans trouble; au lieu ou'en voyant seulement Mile Goton, je ne voyois plus rien; tous mes sens Itoient boulversls." 0 .G. Vol. I, p. 28. In another famous encounter with two young ladies, Mile Galley and Mile Graffenried he notes: "Je ne dis pas nue si j'eusse ete le msitre de mes crrrngemens mon coeur se seroit osrtagl; j'y sentois un peu de prlflrence. J1aurois fait mon bonheur d'avoir pour maitresse Mile de Graffenried, mais a choix je crois nue je l'aurois mieux ^imle sour confidente." Ibid., pa. 138-139. p Blum accentuates both Claire and V/olmar's penchant for voyeurism. "Btyles of Cognition as Moral Options in La Nouvelle Hlloise and Les Liaisons da nge re uses,11 PM LA "(March 1973)i P* 290. This phenomenon can be viewed as a manifesta­ tion of fear.

^D^d^yan has noted that Edouard, who in so many ways resembles the pragmatic English gentleman written about during this period, has a love life that is in total disorder. This lat­ ter side of his nature stresses the affinity which he has for the group at Clarens. Hldlyan calls Edouard an "amant malheureux enfin nui apporte nux survivants de La Nouvelle Hlloise ses propres disillusions et sa propre m^Tancolie {spleen britanniaue).11 Jean-Ja,caues dousseau: La Nouvelle Hlloise, (Paris; Centre de documentation universitaire) p. 112.

^Lionel Gossman stresses the idea of suppression at Clarens: its inhabitants have suppressed passion, ambition and desire css he sees it; and he adds: "The order at Clarens is arti­ ficial, planned by an extremely modern mind which ha.s alienated itself sufficiently to work out a method of social and psycho­ logical engineering." "The worlds of La Nouvelle Hlloise," Studies on Voltarie, XLI (1966), pp. 259-260.

'’This portrait undoubtedly contains Jean-Jacaues’ idealized view of himself too.

^From what is now common knowledge about male and fema,le sexuality we know that biologically Julie is the one who is entering a period of increased sexual appetite while Baint- Preux's is decreasing. However, the psychological and physical barriers raised between the couple can only sharpen their longing for one another.

^'Jhile come critics may not look upon Julie's death as suicide, there is no doubt in my mind about it. Dldlyan does call her 204 death an "acte volonta.ire," and he remarks: "On peut se demander si Julie ne meurt pas a temps. Gar, non seule- ment, dans ce couple d*amants, c'est elle oui est virile, mais si elle eftt prolong^ son existence, elle aura it mis fin, moralement du moins a celle de Daint-Preux annihil4 par elle." op. cit., pp. 80 & 92. O It is worth noting that in Rabelais' utopia, Thdl^me, everyone lived together in harmony but they were not allowed to marry and remain there. Those who wished to wed had to leave. Rousseau seerns to vacillate between the merits of celibacy, which he has his characters discuss at length, and the importance of marriage, marriage in Ijr Nouvelle H^loise seems to be an obstacle to passion rather than a way in which to channel passionate feelings for the common good. Despite Julie's view of celibacy as unnatural, Rousseau appears to have been tempted by it at least in theory. A kind of Origen complex permeates his novel.

% h i s sentence was clearly of great importance to Rousseau because, as Pomeau points out, he reworked it in each one of the surviving manuscripts, p. 809. i(^In this regard Rousseau comes close to Descartes1 idea in that the notion of God is based on an intuition (intuitus). 11 Rousseau's own note at the bottom of page 673 points out that Daint-Preux shares the view of pre„yer espoused by his ancestor, Abelard. The tone of the note remains condescend­ ing regarding both men. Apparently during the course of the novel Rousseau did not alter his negative opinion of the twelfth-century philosopher. 12 I have already mentioned that the children in La Nouvelle Hdloise are vague, underdeveloped and "unreal" characters. To further this point, it should be noted that of Julie and Jolmar's two sons only one, Marcellin, even merits a name and his name only apoea.rs five times in the entire book. The fact that he never bothered to give the other boy a name illustrates the indifference with which Rousseau looked upon the role of the children in his creation; they have little if any impact.

^ I n commenting upon Julie, Henri Peyre has noted: "II y a n€anmoins une complexity tres nuanc£e dans 1'heroine de Rousseau, 1'une des amoureuses les plus vraies de tout le roman frangais. Elle sait etre conuette et mutine a ses heures et il lui arrive de ressembler aux jeunes femme de Uarivaux plus nu'a celles de Corneille. Deulement. elle tient a Stre sftre cue la passion'a lacuelle elle cedera peut-Stre n1est pas un caprice superficial. Elle a le courage de laisser tomber de ses l&vres l’aveu aui pourrait §tre celui d'une bonne moitiy du AVIIIe siecle: 1Je suis 205

trop iicureuse: le bonheur rn1 ennuie.1 11 ju1 est-cc r-ue le romantisme? (Paris; Pressed Universitrires de Prance, 11371,) ," "p." 38. 1 £ " 'harcellin indirectly cruces his mother1 s derth just rc Julie felt thru she caused her mother* o premature demise. It is not difficult to see that this hey event in Rousseau1s life hc.s been re-enacted twice in the novel oerlnuo in rn effort to re-experience the prin end to puree himself of it. One could sry that hours cm ' s mother died, bec.-uce she had intercourse; the sane is true of Julie. Burgelin sees Lime d'Strnge1 s derth rs the "cruse occrssionelle" for the hero­ ine’s obedience to her fr'ther and he notes that like Jean- Jrcruec she is guilty of existing— so in "just retribution" her son hills her. Th Philosoohie de I1 existence etc. , u. 333.

■^Bernard Guyon in his introduction to the Pl^irdc Bdition of Is houvellc H^loise co.uments: " . . . It pcns£e religieuse de ho us s e a u 5 c 1 r t r i t solennellenent dans ce grand finale d’op6r^ nu1 est la, lettre 11 do la sixieme prrtie ou ce prodigieux naitre de I’rrt brror,ue mettait en oeuvre tons les prestiges de sr rh£torirue et de sr musiaue pour frire de ce denouement traginue une triomphante apoth£ose." £.C,. Vol. II, p. LVI. While housseru does attempt rn apotheosis rt the conclusion, I do not feel thrt Julie’s derth is triumphant rs I will explr.in below. The ambiguity of the novel resides in the i interpretstion of its conclusion. 1 s "'"Rousseau provides r clarifying note from Plr.to’ s Phaedo chapters XR!IX-RLCII concerning the distinction between the souls which have not contracted earthly blemishes and there­ by are able to disengage themselves from matter and return to a pure shte, and those which have become coiled by earthly life and can never go bach to their primitive purity but rather retain o^rt of their earthly matter as kinds of "chains." p. 715. i 7 " T h i s scene has not been made very believable by its author. If anything it has something of black humor about it and remains auite grotesque and 11 invr-'-' isemblsble." 1 ° "^Although Julie’s last letter to her lover is a passionate one, hornet notes that Rousseau’s first drafts of this key letter were oven more ardent than the final version. Les Grands 6crivains de 3£ France: Jean-Ja.ccues iioussea.u La i’louve 11 e Hdloise .~~?ol. I, p. 133• This information seems to me to reinforce the idea that Julie1s death be viewed as a voluntary act and as a tragic rather than a triumphant con­ clusion. IQ In a discussion of guilt, remorse, conscience and super-ego, 206

freud has noted tlirt fate ic viev/ed by m m as r kind of external frustation which greatly enhances the power of the conscience and the super-ego, He says: "Hate is re­ corded rs -a substitute for the pa,rental agency. If a. m m is unfortunate it means thrt he is no longer loved by this highest power; and, threatened by such a. loss of love, he once more bows to the parental representative in his super­ ego— a representative whom, in his days of good fortune, he was ready to neglect. I’his becomes especially clear where fate is looked upon in the strictly religious sense of being nothing else than m expression of the divine ./ill.11 Civilisation and its Discontents, trs.ns. James Dtrachey (lew York: ',/. ,i. Aorton, 1962), up. 73-74. o 'I A recurring theme in the stories of most legendary lovers is their desire to rise above the ordinary— to be special. Abllp.rd and llSloiac provide an excellent example of this manifestation. O ] ‘"'Once again freud*s commentary on guilt is pertinent to what Julie has undergone: "Originally, renunciation of instinct was the result of fear of m external authority: one renounced one's satisfactions in order not to lose its love. If one has carried out this renunciation, one is, as it ’were, ruitc with the authority and no sense of guilt should remain. But with fear of the super-ego the case is different. Here, instinctual renunciation is not enough, for the wish persists and cannot be concealed from the super­ ego. i’hus, in spite of the renunciation that has been made, a sense of guilt comes about. This constitutes a great economic disadvantage in the erection of a super-ego, or, as we may put it, in the formation of a conscience. Instinc­ tual renunciation now no longer has a completely liberating effect; virtuous continence is no longer rewarded with the a.ssurmce of love. A threatened external unhappiness— loss of love and punishment on the part of the external authority— has been exchanged for a permanent internal unhappiness, for the tension of the sense of guilt." op. cit., p p . 74-75. P P "'“Burgelin remarks thw t "Julie a lutt6 pour rue 1'amour se taise, pu.is pour m * il reste pure communion dcs ames; ses precautions se sont retournees contre elle," La Philosophic de 1' existence etc., p . 353.

O "5 ^ I r o a the Confessions we know that dousseau was greatly im­ pressed with his father's enduring passion for his mother, lie tells us: "Quarmto rns aores 1' avoir perdue, il est mort dans lea bras d'une seconde femme, mais le non de la premiere a. la bouche, et son image au fond du coeur." C.G_. Vol. I, P. 7. 2^j)SdSyrn has written: "La Lontrgne ^ui domine La nouvelle Hjlolse est comme le symbole d'une ascension ouverte, 207

sucs^rle ru:: coeurc remplis de peGaion. Le prycrce r- uiie vr.leur th£rrpeutir

^lecercle hrc r ptly celled the novel "I*Sponge de 1* r.uour." lousserm et lf rrt du ronr.n (Pr.ric: Armrnd Colin, 1963) » P. 154. 208

c g h d l u b i g h

Prssionr.te love crn be viewed rn enslrving, but r. prscion for order c m hrve the orme effect. Both prssionc present different sides of the seme coin. Julie's ferr of her own instincts reinrins the source of her iron imposition of order on herself r.nd others. In this wr y, "order" in La Nouvelle Hdloise is used nrimrrily rs r defense nechrnism. In the Duupl&nent ru voyrye de Bougr.inville Diderot hr.s 13 exclrin: "ildfies-vous de celui nui veut nettre de I'ordre. Ordonner, c'est toujours ne rendre le mit r e des rutres en les reivnt.11 ' In reg m d to the heroine of Nousseru's novel the foraulr is well t^ken. I'he subject of liberty cones into 2 focus if one rcyran the work from this perspective. Julie hr.s imposed restrictions on her behr.vior end she desires to control thrt of others rs well, she continur.lly projects her ferrs rnd mxieties onto her servants m d her friends. Nonetheless, rs hr.s been noted rbove, c hir.tuc exists be­ tween the life of the mrsters rnd the other inhobitrnts of 01c renc. As long m lousseru-Julie is pulling the strings rnd dominating the rction then r suncrf ici: 1 order, which is the direct result of inner fern rnd mistrust, crn be im­ posed on others. Ironicrlly, one would be hrrd pressed to find r being who chrfed more under m y type of restraint thr.n the r.uthor of In. Nouvelle H£loise. .md yet he composed the mych debrted rnd interpreted Pontrrt socir1 shortly rfter the novel. Both works trert individual m d collective free­ dom rnd if one were to n p l y some of the notions of the Pont rrt to Plrrens, it becomes r.ppr.rent thrt Julie must be "exiled" becruse her continued existence (rnd probrble re- lrnse) would be counter to the common good rnd the generrl will of the community. Her individual will, until her derth, hr.s been rbcorbed by the generrl will rnd whether one con­ siders Julie or V/olmr.r rs the "lggislrteur" it is clerr thrt she cr.nnot violrte the contrrct (both the ms.rrir.ge contrrct 209

mentioned in III,xviii rnd her contrrct in the cor.nun.ity) with impunity.^ 'the critic* e problem lies in -nrlysing douisseru* c intent or rrther in deciphering whrt he mry hrvc intended to do iron whr t he rctu- lly did do :i.n hie n o v o -1.. Just •- c Aoussc-n w-s not - product of the community described in the Contr-1 soci; 1 , ncitixci* w- s Julie - product of the 01"renc til-1 she -nd ,,olm-r build together. the cones from the other society, the i .merfect world, the one inhabited by TV Civ illot -nd the b-ron d* At" rig c -nd her mother Per­ il* os henrictte or Julie' s children will be -lie to h-ve -■ different rttitude tovvrrc life r rj ■ result of the c-rcfu 1 nurturing the -cults nl-n for then/' „c do not know. One problem seems to be th-t the theoretic-", -nd the nrrctic-1 cl-oh in L.- nouvelle il6loisc -nd therein lies -n d obstacle to its interpretstion. T/hile Jo Imp r' a lost letter rime for deificrtion rnd rnotheosis, Julie's oigns.lc trrgedy— r monument to repressed feelings, sndness, decor ir end fril- ure. Julie dies bee-use- che crn no longer be-r her "utooir." It hrs become the limbo mentioned in the introduction to this study; her "o-ys dec chimeres" h-s t-ken on - monstrous -u-lity -nd her "ennui" should be interpreted in its et.yr.olomicrl sense (in odio) rrther th-n in its more gener- ,-lised me-ning.u The citisen in the Uontrrt is obeying himself when he rdheres to the generrl will; in this iderl ctrte Julie's contrrdiction could not exist. I'he heroine f-ils bccruce society, the society th-t she wrs rerred in, hrs friled her 7 -nd in - sense corrupted her. i'he victor in Lr_ nouvelle H^loise is not Julie but society. It rem-ins int-ct, The view of prsaionrte love in the novel is - sobering one. Al­ though there is r greet ex.-Its tion thrt comes from it, the overrll picture thrt emerges of nrssion is drrk, forbidding rnd trrgic. One could rrgue thrt by her derth Julie hrs trrnscended her feeling of being rn "onde r.gitde;" while 2 1 0 this is partially true, in point of fret the heroine goes to her grave with the ider of eventual reunion with her lover uppermost in her thoughts. Her children, V/olmar, her friends rnd the entire community of Clarens cannot hone to compete with her efforts to become one with her lover in y both physical rnd spiritual union. marriage does not fare well in the novel. On the contrary it is equated with ennui and the characters who are free to wed consistently decline to entertain the notion. Despite the trials and tribul-tions which follow in the wake of passionate love, it triumnhs. From an existential point of view, the only way for Julie to regain her authenticity -nd to unroot the many ties that bind her to the facade of bad f-ith th-t she hrs assumed, is to die. In tnis regard, she does go beyond the terrestrial limits of her existence which have only immobilized her in a situation which has be­ come unbearable. Given the context of her story (her back­ ground, religion, education, period etc.) no other choice remains open to her after her marriage. A heart to heart talk with (Volmar -nd - "dissolution" of their marriage con­ trrct is clearly out of the question. the only exit left ooen to the heroine is the final one. In a number of ways La nouvelle Hglo‘ise represents a. o bitter indictment of civilisation.' In nearly all of his works xiousseau spoke out against the accented highest mani­ festations of civilisation: the arts, the sciences, religion, refined manners and customs, established institutions and certain "enlightened" ideas. He u :!es his novel to attack most of the foregoing, but as a replacement he offers us an idyllic snot where an oppressive csexuality reigns and where order becomes an end in itself. I'he final impression one has of Clarens is that of a solitary and sterile world where life will be prefaced by an alpha, privative. At the con­ clusion of the novel the characters become acutely aware of 2 1 1 their solitude rnd are overwhelmed with sadness.^ Clarens cedes its "promised lend" character to the realm of love which offers fulfillment rnd union. 'i'he religious fr~mework which ,/olrnar1 s last letter creates does little to alleviate the somber finale. Al­ though it would be difficult to refute Aousse^u's sincerity regarding his belief in •- .Junrcme i3oing, the end of the novel tcena ~ peculiarly "mortal" flavor rnd therein lies its success. In effect, Julie does not interest us so much rs r "nco- Corncli'n11 heroine who effects r dramatic con-uest over rn unruly self, but rather rs r vulnerable, torn m d ultimately tragic human being. bhc h"S "won" nothing. the most excited religious sentiments do not begin to domineto the nersonr1 human dilemma rnd the affective force of Julie's fine 1 letter. Aeligion is left out. frith hrs not offered Julie the com­ fort she so desired; virtue hrs not been its own reward, rnd 11 order hrs proven to be a trap ratner than a liberating element. The character who personifies order m d control in the novel, ■jolm-r, is the least "real" nciSbn in it. liven ,/olmar1 s atheism is not ultimately a very important factor: the conflict between mission rnd duty in the novel would rcmr-in the same if Julie's husband were a believer. 'The i nv it us invitmn. of d£rcnicc applies most poignantly to Aousse-u's novel. beoarrtion mid absence characterise the worh. Ahile the basic influence of dr cine can be traced in La Nouvelle H6lo*iso, Julie can also bo viewed a s p. trsn- sitionr 1 figure between Mme de Cleves rnd lime hovary. i.ime de ./olmrr chooses both renunciation rnd death. Her "mays Jes chi.neres" exists in the lives of the seventeenth and the nine­ teenth-century heroines, Julie is a rich and intelligently developed character; she has more facets thr,n the above-men­ tioned ladies and although she provides the model for a century of female roles, few if any, erual her deoth and none enual her intelligence. Jhr.t remains particularly engaging 2 1 2

about itousse^u' c Grlater, rs with her creator, rre the nr ny paradoxes rnd conflicts which envelop her, Julie1 a striving for perfection nnci friling short of the goal touch us pre­ cisely because of the intensity of the struggle rnd the bitter­ sweet ruriity of her frilure. The heroine's choice of derth rs the answer to her conflict represents rn existential choice rrther • then rn evrsion. Her "choice" hrs been preprred in the letters on suicide rs well rs in the presence of derth throughout the nor2c. housseru' c rmbivrlent feelings tov/rrd the novel afford r clue to its psychological imports nee to him. I'v/o episodes will suffice to demonstrate the ruthor's own conflict. In r letter written to the :nrrruise de Luxembourg in Pebrurry 1761 housseru comments: "Lr publicr.tion de lr Julie m'^ jettd d'-ns un trouble rue ne me donnr jrmris ruemi de mes Merits. J'y orends un int£ret d' enfrnt rui me u£sole, et je renois Ir-dessus des lettres si diff£rentes rue je ne srurris encore r ruoi m'en tenir sur con sueces si monsieur le hrresehrl :i' rvr it eu lr bontd de me rassurcr." Lr ter in his life dousscru reruested thrt the novel be omitted from rn edition 11 of his complete worhs. Jern-Jrcou.es felt thrt he never re­ covered from the strrin of the period during which he wrote the novel; in the Confessions he soerhs of the negative rnd destructive effects of his orssion for line d'iioudetot which he sublimeted into the booh: "Cet Itrt, et curtout sr durde, pendent trois mois d1 irritation continuelle ct de privation, me jetr d m c un £puisenent dont je n'ri ou me tirer de plusieurs •'nndes, et finit par me donncr une descente ^u.e j' emportorri 1 4 ou rui m 1 emnorterr ru tomberu." ‘ fhe presage is mure daint- Preux. One of the morris of the story seems to be Housseau's desire for women to remain faithful at any cost. J:me de ./arens while not licentious was r promiscuous woman and iiousseru suffered from having to share her love. And although Goohie 213 never succumbed to Jern-Jrcoues1 attempted seduction, she was the devoted mistress of mother men— therefore rn adulteress. liiG Julie remains nure after her mrrri-ge rnd despite her passionate irture beer use fidelity is r ll-importrnt in housse-u' s view of women. In Julie Nousseru -cts out his role re artist, creator of perfection; his Pygmalion side relished the crertion of : woman rfter his own hurt: - domineering, tender, maternal ■ nd nr ce ion-te being who would ~tt end to his many needs -nd ocrh-ns even enr;hie him to reconcile some of his own con- trrdictions, the moign-ncy rnd be-uty of the "tenth kevcrie" reinforces the ider thrt he almost found this women on earth, i’he nost-lgi- mid the f-tality which he associates with his first meeting v;ith :'me do V/arens and the duration (fifty yerrs) of his love for her attest better thrn rny other document thrt love can con-uer time. kousscau dcmontr-ted this notion in Lr. houvelle hdloisc rnd in his life. A number of critics h^ve suggested thrt the novel was r kind of dress rehearsal for the Confessions rnd the Vi this crn hardly be questioned. Both works reveal, -long with the Dialogues, the vicissitudes of feeling which assaulted the author over the yerrs. the irnage thrt I h-ve chosen to represent these uos rnd downs, the w-ve, replies to the structure rnd to the inner life of kousseau's literrry crertions in Lr Nouvelle H^loise but is eaually applicable to his Irter works rs well rs to his personal life. Unnble to dominate the movements of his passionate nrture, rnd werk enough to allow himself to bo lulled brck rnd forth, kousseau lets the crlm wrves of "lac de Bienne" soothe rnd finally replace the devastating intimate upheaval which is also recurrent in the novel: Lr le bruit des vrgues et I1agitation de !• eau fixrnt mes sens et chassant de mon rme toute autre agitation lr plongeoient dans une reverie delicieuse ou lr nuit me 214

surprenoit souvent s m s ^ ue je rn* en fussc rooerceu. Le flux et reflux de cette ecu, son bruit continu mais renfld orr intervrlles frrooent s m s relrche mon oreille et mes yeux suooldoient rux mouvements internes ^ue .V- reverie 6teignoit en moi et suffisoient oour me fa ire sentir ^vec olrisir mon existence, s m s nrendre !■- neine de nenser. i'he water motif, which hr s been neglected in iiousseru1 s work, represents in o m t r desire to be rocked m d to be comforted, i'he ruthor' s longing to be erred for by - mrternr! figure re­ appears under one guise or mot h e r in his work. I believe thrt r r m o r t exists between the structure 1 order of the novel "'nd the peripeteias thrt its characters experience, i’he juxtaposition between order m d disorder emerges rs r key prttern in Lr_ Louvelle Hdloise which c m • Iso be trrced in the errlier "nd later v;orks of kousseau. i’he need exhibited by the ruthor to "restore" order rnd to impose it ronerrs m d rerooerrs throughout his oeuvre, i’he type of order that he envisages does vrry from work to work but in the middle of his creative life, the order de­ picted in his novel betrrys rn urgent inner desire for self- control rs well rs self-determin' tion. Although Lr Aouvelie Hdlo'isc hrs aged in some respects, 1 * 1 7 . it c m no longer be viewed rs "r. fascinating ruin." ' I be­ lieve thrt the underlying unity of the novel lies in the longing for order thrt remrins r constmt throughout it. Given the r_ priori circumstances set u p by ±iousser.u in the work there c m be no other resolution of the main character's conflict except to be rerbsorbed by universe 1 order or by r "I H buorenc Being. for kousseau the principle of order in the universe wrs God m d while the ending of the novel is not in my view s. religious one, the impression thrt remains is thrt this higher order represents Julie's finrl refuge from her orssion m d perhaps the hone for a cosmic reconcilirtion of duty m d love. 215

POOTiiOThJ

^Denis Diderot, Oeuvre s , Paris: Pl6iade, 1351, p . 335 n ''Srnest Cassirer sees the 'uestion of liberty re one of liousGeau’s orim/’ry occupationo. The Question of Jem-Jrcrues kousseau (Indianr University Press, 1363) , 13

JJtTObinski rightly points out thrt "Uousseru, lui, "chive son r o m m d1 une fapon nui 6auivant a un choix cntre I1 absolu de lr communr'ut6 et 1* r bsolu du salut personnel, il a oat£ nour le second. Lr mort de Julie signific cette option." Lr transparence etc. p . 141). A This night indeed be the fruit of the carefully built "morale sensitive" mentioned in Chanter four note nineteen. r "'Cassirer noints out that kousseau was aware of his inability to b r i n g his own life and doctrine into harmony and thrt by estranging himself from the world he became eccentric rnd was driven into himself and morbid fantasies. He says: "thus, in his own existence, rebellion against .society led not to liberation but to self-destruct ion,11 o n . ci^., t>. 95-

r~ °Zumthor in commenting on the "acedia" of the original Ildloise notes: "Hdloise glisse rux facilitls de la tristesse, de cette "acedia," ce " m l du siecle" des monasteres m^dilvaux. Loin de se counettre, elle ^ccuse." "illloise et Abllard," kovue des sciences hur.aines {juillct-sent. 1956), p. 329- while Julie is not in a monastery, she has opted for re­ nunciation ^nd has sought refuge (and refuge within the re­ fuge) to the noint that ther "ennui" takes on tragic dimension;: 7 Cassirer recalls thr,t kousseau adopted Thomas lure’s phrase that what has been called a "state" was a conspiracy of the rich against the moor. on. cit., u. 61. This notion is nuite applicable to La nouvelle H^loise because the baron's chief objection to daint-Preux is that he does not belong to their class— he is penniless. O This ultimate victory brings to mind the transcendental hrrminess of the lovers in Lozart' o Logic Piute. Une could indeed recognize in La kouvelle ll6loise the masonic symbols of trials by water, air, earth and fire mentioned in Chanter four note 21. kolmar-Snr^stro and the community at large annear as the disembodied "principles" to which individual choices must surrender, or in which they should find an exalted P"th. 216

Q j?reud tells us that many people feel thrt civilisation is largely responsible for our miseries. lie comments: "It was discovered thrt a person becomes neurotic because he cannot tolerate the amount of frustration which society imposes on him in the service of its cultural ideals, rnd it W's inferred from this thrt the abolition or reduction of those demrnds would result in r return to possibilities of hrppiness." Civilian tion rnd its Discontents ( Hew York: ,/.

■'■^F.C. Green, Jean-Jac^ues Housser'U, A Criticrl Jtudy of His Life rnd Writings, (Hew York: Barnes 1 Noble, 1970*77 p p . 1 5 ^ 1 3 9 .

^ C1onfessions, G.C., Vol. I, p . 446.

Among others D6d6ym p. 126, rnd Hornet in his edition of the novel Vol. I, p.767.

“^"Cinruieme Heverie," £.C. , Vol. I, p .1045.

^^'I'he phrase is from Lionel Gossmma1 s "i'he ,/orlds of Lr Ho uve lie ii6loi.se," Jtudies on Voltaire, HLI (1966), p. 235.

■*‘°Thio is the very conclusion of kousseau's disciple, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre in Paul et Virginie in which the chaste lovers find fulfillment when absorbed in the universal o rder. 217

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